Schools avoid fresh cuts, but ‘still struggling’

The absence of any new cuts in the 2014 education budget for schools does not mean things are getting any easier, a principals’ leader has claimed.

Kay O’Brien, National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) president, said maintaining staffing ratios and other systems for next year will only stop a bad situation from getting worse, particularly with no extra funding for disadvantaged schools or for special education.

In addition, she said, the previously-announced budget cut of 1% leaves principals with an even harder job next year in deciding which bills to pay each month. She said the children in the schools of delegates at the NAPD conference have had their child benefit cut repeatedly, their pupil-teacher ratios worsened, and are sitting in bigger classes.