Bradford's 25 upper school headteachers have joined forces to issue a strong attack on school funding in the district.

In an unprecedented move, the 25-strong group in charge of the district's 40,000 upper school pupils are to send letters to all parents expressing grave concerns over cash in the classroom.

They say Bradford's education system is one of the worst funded in the country - demonstrated by tatty schools and poor results - and that city bosses must take urgent action.

But Council chiefs say their hands are tied over cash and that year on year increases in funding from the Government have been passed on.

"We have reached the point were we are having to choose between new books or new computers and having enough teachers," said John Hull, head at Buttershaw Upper and joint spokesman for the group.

"We say enough is enough and the children of Bradford are not getting a fair deal."

"The bottom line is that if we do not have enough money to do our job, standards will not go up as quickly as they are supposed to," warned joint spokesman John Fowler, headteacher of Rhodesway Upper.

The group have compiled a set of statistics:

The money Bradford puts into schools places it 134th out of 150 local authorities in the country.

In Bradford the average amount spent per pupil is £1,733. In Leeds it is £1,919 and in Birmingham, which is considered a 'statistical neighbour' of Bradford, it is £2,109.

In neighbouring Leeds, headteachers are allocated £338 more than their counterparts in Bradford for a Year 11 pupil. For a Year 13 pupil, the difference is £673.

As revealed in the Telegraph & Argus this week, Bradford is spending £6.4 million less on education than the government says it should.

Mr Hull says if he could physically move his entire school three miles over the border into Calderdale, his annual funding would be boosted by £750,000.

The situation is similar for Rhodesway and every other upper school in the district would get more money if they were located in another education authority.

Mr Fowler said the direct appeal to parents demonstrated how seriously the headteachers feel about the issues.

"We are not asking for anything special, just a fair deal."

The headteachers fully back the reorganisation of Bradford's three-tier system to two, which was approved by the Government last month.

But, at the end of the day they say without proper funding, improvements will be painfully slow.

Ian Murch of Bradford's National Union of Teachers, said the group's concern about spending was very real.

"I can understand their frustration and I am not surprised they want to bring it to parents attention."

A spokesman for the Local Education Authority said the LEA had passed on increased funding from the Government directly to schools this year.

"At the end of the day I sympathise with schools and I know they are under tremendous pressure. But what is as important as funding is getting really good people, good teachers and good ancillary staff.''

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