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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Anna Fazackerley

Cash-strapped schools plan to lay off teachers in blow to Labour’s promise

A teacher in a classroom with a girl putting up her hand
A new survey found that nearly 90% of schools would not replace staff who left. Photograph: Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock

Schools across England say they are being forced to make teachers and teaching assistants redundant to avoid going into deficit, in a serious blow to the new government’s plans to improve education.

Labour swept into government in July with a central promise to tackle the crisis in schools by recruiting 6,500 teachers. But unions have told the Observer that schools have already started making teachers redundant to balance their books, arguing that after more than a decade of funding cuts under the Tories there remain no less painful efficiencies to be made.

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