Head teachers have got their sums wrong over schools spending, according to the district's education chief.

In a letter to parents, Bradford Council Education Committee chairman Councillor Jim Flood, admits the service is underfunded but he disputes the idea the council is sitting on a crock of gold that belongs to schools.

Bradford's 25 secondary head teachers last week united to campaign for an extra £18 million to go directly into schools over three years

They criticised the fact that the Council's spending on education is £6.4 million off Government spending targets and that a third of all that cash goes on central services.

He said of that third about 11 per cent was already 'spent', paying off mortgages on school buildings. The rest provided vital services, like transport, the music service and outdoor centres.

"The heads know quite well that most of the money they say we are holding either cannot be devolved, like capital debt charges, or is money that schools get by another route, like special-needs assistants." Head teachers urged all parents of secondary school pupils to write to local councillors expressing their concern over education funding and so far Coun Flood has received about a dozen letters.

In reply, he details the pressures on education funding and says the most reliable statistic to reflect Bradford's situation is the total expenditure per pupil, which in a league situation would place the district 39th out of 150.

He also accepts that education, along with many Council services, is underfunded as the result of long-term draining of resources.

Coun Flood said he hoped to meet secondary and primary school heads and their governing bodies after the elections on May 6.

But a spokesman for the secondary heads said Coun Flood's words could not disguise the fact that Bradford spent considerably less on schools than authorities like Birmingham, which is similar in size

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