THE Government’s announcement of £14 billion for schools came as a welcome boost to teachers campaigning for a better deal.
They marched on Whitehall saying staff were being laid off and school were falling apart as budgets were stretched too far.
But, while the headline figure was impressive, as always, the devil is in the detail.
The package of funding for primary and secondary schools will come into effect between now and 2022/23 and will bring all schools up to a minimum level of funding.
There will, of course, be winners and losers with some schools getting more than others.
An analysis of the figures, provided to the House of Commons library, found 17 schools across Colchester are in line to receive a cash injection under the plans.
The remainder, many of which have been heavily impacted by
cuts to funding since 2011, are considered to already be receiving enough.
So while it would be churlish to negate the gesture, the funding is still a country mile away from what teachers say is needed to balance the books.
They said school budgets need to be increased by about 15 per cent to meet the demands of pay, pensions and other costs but that figure is unlikely to be realised.
Of course, money is finite. There can be - and neither should there be - any blank cheques.
But there is still an uncomfortable feeling the Government might need to go back to the classroom and work out the sums again.
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