Governors threaten to ‘strike’ over school funding cuts for the first time

West Sussex governors have threatened that they will refuse to work following concerns over funding cuts.

Local head teachers have stated that they may have to cut school hours because of cash shortages and in response to this school governors have warned MPs that they will stop working.

They wrote to MPs saying that they will refuse to sign off budgets and are in “shock and incomprehension” over what funding cuts will mean for schools.

However, the Department of Education (DfE) says that schools in England are receiving record levels of funding.

Governors are unpaid, but contribute to how schools are run by appointing staff and overseeing school finances and the potential standstill could cause administrative problems. However, they will continue to work in regards to issues concerning child protection.

A Worth Less? campaign has since been organised by head teachers in West Sussex in order to put forward their concerns about lack of funding for schools. In addition, a petition has been circulating in support of the protest for head teachers to sign.

The National Audit Office has also stated that schools could face significant spending cuts of around £3 billion by 2020.
However, the DfE has argued that funding for schools in 2016-17 is at record levels of £40 billion.