On school funding

Mike Fieldhouse with a local mother

Southend Labour Party has responded to a request from thousands of head teachers to raise the issue of school funding with political canvassers in the General Election, by taking Labour’s message to the parents of school children.

“Ahead of the forthcoming general election” the letter from headteachers to parents states, “it is crucial that parents, carers and all other interested parties raise the issue of school funding ‘on the doorstep’ with all prospective candidates,”

Julian Ware-Lane, Labour’s candidate in Southend West says, “the letter quite rightly does not favour any pollical party, but it did ask parents to engage with canvassers on this issue. We are confident that our policies to stop the cuts to school budgets, increase funding, along with a commitment to cut class sizes to 30 five, six, and seven-year-olds, will be attractive to parents.”

Local campaigners will be taking Labours message to the parents of children at a number of local schools both before and after the half-term break. Julian says, “We hope this will at least go some way to show that Labour is committed to establishing a National Education Service, to provide cradle to grave education, free at the point of use, for the many, and not just the privileged few.”