Letter: Labour should think again
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Roy Hattersley MP (Letters, 27 June) in his philippic against the Labour Party's policy statement, Diversity and Excellence, asks the very apposite questionwhat formula the party intends to use to ensure "fair and open" funding for all schools.
This is a crucial question that the Labour Party failed to address in its policy document. It is our view that the funding system encapsulated in the Local Management of Schools scheme, and whose extension is advocated in the document, contains inherent flaws that result inevitably in unfairness and inconsistencies.
We believe that, since schools are now legally obliged to teach a National Curriculum, there is an obligation on the government to ensure that all schools are suitably staffed in order that the National Curriculum can be taught. This requires the production of a national staffing model which could lay down the required number of staff in schools of varying sizes. The schools should then be funded, through the Local Education Authorities, on the basis of that model; and schools should not be able to divert that money into other uses. If the LEA wished to supplement that expenditure by providing extra staffing, they would be free to do so.
Built into the model would be the provision for extra staffing in schools in areas of deprivation advocated by Roy Hattersley. The implementation of such a strategy would, however, challenge the assumption that total flexibility in staffing matters results in equity or fairness. It does not, and it is a pity that the Labour Party missed this opportunity to test this assumption by the introduction of some radical thinking about the funding of schools. I hope there will be another opportunity before David Blunkett is finally ensconced as Secretary of State for Education.
Yours sincerely,
Eamonn O'Kane
Deputy General Secretary
NASUWT
London, WC2
28 June
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments