The fact that Blair and Kelly unnecessarily disemboweled their own bill to placate backbenchers means these extra £millions will probably be wasted. Pity really.
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29 minutes ago
23 March, 2006
Increase in education spending
What happens when you pump millions of pounds into an unreformed education system?
The fact that Blair and Kelly unnecessarily disemboweled their own bill to placate backbenchers means these extra £millions will probably be wasted. Pity really.
The fact that Blair and Kelly unnecessarily disemboweled their own bill to placate backbenchers means these extra £millions will probably be wasted. Pity really.
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4 comments:
It'd be more representative if you showed the spending rates and rate of improvement before '97 too. As it is it looks as though the results may not have improved otherwise - which we all know they probably would have done!
Edward,
You are right, unfortunately I don`t have the figures.
This graph clearly shows a correlation between spending and GCSE results.
The only reason it looks like there may be a problem is that you have cut off the spending at 10,000k and 40,000k, but kept the full range of percentage receiving A-C from 10 to 100. A more accurate graph would cut off the percentages at 30-70% or 40-60% and would demonstrate that the rise in spending on schools has had a positive effect.
Perhaps for a better comparison you could include improvement in GCSE results in the independent sector (if there was an improvement).
Even if you change the figures on the graph axis it does not alter the fact that spending has increased by almost 50% and pass rates have changed by only a few per cent.
I haven’t even factored in grade inflation.
I don’t have figures for the independent sector, by their very nature it is almost impossible to measure the financial input into independent schools.
Pouring money into unreformed public services is the politics of cowardice. Rather than grasp the nettle and make a real and positive change this government has used spending levels as camouflage to hide behind. Saying “Ignor the results look at how much money we’re spending” is no good to anyone.
For parents who can move to the catchment area of a good school or who can afford to pay for private education this is less of a problem, but for the families who have no choice it is a huge issue. Ignoring the problems in our education system hurts them the most and anyone involved in politics has a moral obligation to do what is most effective rather than what gets the best headlines.
If Blair and Kelly really cared about the education of the poorest and least influential in society they would have stuck to their guns over the education bill. Instead they put the placation of their own backbenchers, and protection of their own political standing first.
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