School Heads Discover A Possible Hole In Educational Academy Budgets
An educational nightmare is looming as the Government and Local Educational Authorities play games with the finances of schools considering academy status.
The current financial proposals for academy schools are not all they seem and some Headteachers may be in for shock. A profound maths rule emanating from the financial world states that Cash is King ,which needs to be foremost in any Headteacher’s plan whilst they convert their schools to academy status. A recent survey by the Times newspaper, however, indicates most local educational authorities (LEA) believe the cash from the Department for Education may be a lot lower than anticipated. And this is before any final countdown announcements in the emergency budget. Cracks are appearing raising concern this significant educational move may backfire.
A secondary school with an operating budget GBP 5 million could find a shortfall of around GBP 400k. This represents eight percent of their budget levied by the LEA to cover the provision of central services to all schools. But the levy can vary depending on the LEA and in some area schools could actually enjoy further funding instead of the charge. Many Lib Dem MP’s are concerned the overall scheme may serve to undermine local authorities rather than achieve educational excellence.
School heads, and so far there are 1,100 who have applied to become an academy, see the freedom to manage their destiny as a huge advantage. Autonomy in the relevance of the national curriculum, teacher pay scales, and removal from local authority inspections are among the key benefits.
Whereas the funding transfer is assumed to come under the influence of the LEA, the Department Of Education Secretary, Michael Gove, said they would decide on extra funding for academies based on the services they receive through their local authority and a VAT grant.
Mick Brookes, General Secretary of the National Association of Teachers of summed up the confusion in the maths when he said “I’m not surprised at the disparity. The way in which numbers are manipulated is a bit like smoke and mirrors.”
Before any school switches to become an academy perhaps they need some independent financial advice from the banks. Talk about being in a Rock and Hard place!
