Tories to axe 400 Croydon teachers

New figures show that Croydon’s schools budget will be cut by £15.8 million by 2019 as a result of the Tory Government’s new funding formula.

The figures show a £327 drop in funding per pupil in Croydon, equivalent to 423 teachers.

Steve Reed, Labour MP for Croydon North, said the figures showed the Tories don’t care about children in Croydon and are stoking a crisis in local schools.

Per pupil spending in Croydon is already £600 lower than the London average, while the number of children needing a primary school place is forecast to grow at twice the London average over the next five years. That’s already left Croydon facing a shortage of school places and the threat of falling education standards as children are forced to learn in overcrowded classrooms or high-rise portakabins.

Steve Reed MP said:

These figures show the Government is writing off Croydon’s children.  Our borough has a young population with many growing families whose children need a place in a good local school.  Cutting funding for our children when we’re already facing a funding crisis is nothing short of irresponsible.

Croydon can’t afford to lose hundreds of teachers, and our children deserve better than being squeezed into overcrowded classrooms because the Government doesn’t understand the value of a good education.  It’s astonishing Croydon’s two Tory MPs are going along with this betrayal of local families.