Today I was joined in Barnsley East by Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, Angela Rayner.
She joined me to help highlight the bad deal schools and children in Barnsley East are getting as a result of the Government’s mismanagement of the education system.
As a former teacher myself, I know how incredibly hard teachers and staff work in schools across the constituency.
But for too long, the Government has failed to support them, and it is our children and young people who are suffering.
Government cuts to the education system has forced staff to work longer hours, in tougher circumstances, with fewer resources.
It’s no surprise that more and more teachers are leaving the profession, whilst the Government has missed its teacher recruitment target in each of the last five years.
In fact, in the last academic year alone schools across Barnsley were forced to spend £2.8m of the taxpayers’ money on temporary teaching staff to plug shortages.
Class sizes are also rising, schools are being forced to cut corners, and further cuts are on the horizon. This is simply not good enough.
If elected as MP for Barnsley East, I will continue to oppose the Government’s appalling handling of our schools, and use my first-hand experience in education to fight for a better deal for our teachers and students.
