Nov 8, 2022, Mirror: Majority of schools face making 'catastrophic' staffing cuts to stay afloat https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/majority-schools-face-making-catastrophic-28429655
Majority of schools face making 'catastrophic' staffing cuts to stay afloat
A survey of more than 11,000 school leaders in England by the NAHT union laid bare the brutal cuts that schools are grappling with in the face of rising costs and funding cuts
The majority of schools face having to lay off staff or slash hours in a desperate bid to stay afloat.
A survey of more than 11,000 school leaders in England by the NAHT union laid bare the brutal cuts that schools are grappling with in the face of rising costs and funding cuts.
Two thirds (66%) of heads warn they will have to sack teaching assistants or reduce their hours, while half (50%) are looking at reducing the number of teachers or teaching hours.
NAHT chief Paul Whiteman warned cuts to staffing would be "catastrophic", resulting in bigger classes and reduced support for vulnerable pupils.
The survey found that
with just 5% of heads saying they can pay their costs next academic year.
Over half (54%) of schools said they would go into deficit this year unless they make further cuts.
Schools face a £2billion [$2.3B] funding shortfall by 2024/5, according to recent research by the Education Policy Institute. This equates to £40,000 [$46K] for the average primary school and £210,000 [$240K] in the average secondary school.
The grim findings come as the union began balloting for strike action over pay for the first time in its 125-year history.
Mr Whiteman said: “Schools are being hit by a perfect storm of costs. In attempting to balance their budgets, school leaders are being faced with eye-watering energy bills, spiralling costs to resources and supplies, and the financial impact of an unfunded pay increase this year.
"With no fat left to cut following a decade of austerity, many thousands of schools are now looking at falling into deficit unless they make swingeing cuts.”
Services such as counselling, additional support for children with special education needs and Covid catch up tutoring are likely to be in the firing line….
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