SCHOOLS across the county were celebrating last week as news of next year's funding settlement reached Worcestershire. Dan Kendrick takes a look at how a countywide campaign, which began just two years ago, grabbed the attention of Westminster and made a world of difference to Worcestershire's schools.

THE fight for fair funding began with 200 headteachers and 60 school governors travelling to London to lobby MPs in May 2001.

They were sent away a "sticking plaster" of £1.3m to tide over the county until flaws in the funding formula could be addressed.

As this figure fell woefully short, a parent-power campaign picked up the baton and carried the fight back to the capital, holding two crisis meetings with Schools Minister David Miliband earlier this year.

A petition from parents, teachers, governors, councillors and MPs demanded a long-term cure, rather than a temporary solution.

And with last week's announcement of a 6.4 per cent funding increase - worth £14.3m to county schools and only just short of the maximum 6.5 per cent on offer - the first seeds of recovery were sown.

Early indications suggest it will result in a three per cent real cash increase for schools - about an extra £100 per pupil across Worcestershire.

The final formula is far from simple however, as the additional £14.3m is split between cash "passported" directly to schools, and money the county council can distribute as it sees fit.

Less enthusiastic observers have noted that while Worcestershire has improved its position, from being the second worst funded out of 34 shire LEAs, it is still around 30th place.

And others have added that a 6.4 per cent increase on a small amount of money is less than four or five per cent of a much larger initial figure - which many counties receive.

It is also compelling to follow mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff's view that this simply stops the funding gap getting any bigger, rather than improves the county's position.

But the cash-gap was never going to disappear in one year, and the "realistic" settlement means Worcestershire's cash-crisis has finally been diagnosed by central Government.

And the bottom line is that director of education Julien Kramer had £236m to spend this academic year and will have more than £250m next time around - a big move in the right direction.

"I welcome the settlement and I think it is far more reasonable than we have received in previous years," said Mr Kramer.

"Schools will definitely benefit from the money.

"But the county council's provision to schools - such as the areas that deal with vulnerable children - do not actually gain from the deal, and the settlement is just the start of redressing years of under-funding."

Last year, the Government gave county schools a 6 per cent cash increase with one hand but swept it away with the other as costs rose by around 8 per cent.

Education Secretary Charles Clarke learnt his lesson this time around, and after a rise in teacher and classroom assistant salaries, schools are expected to still have their 3 per cent extra cash.

So Worcestershire's settlement not only hands more money to each school - much needed by the 50 or so in the red - but starts closing the funding gap on other authorities.

And headteachers were pleased that the announcement offered some respite for schools.

"If this turns out to be a real increase then of course we welcome the news," said Tony James, headteacher at Elgar Technology College, in Worcester.

The Bilford Road school has around 1,000 pupils and the increase would equate to an extra £100,000 next year.

"It is not really a massive increase on a £3m budget but we have had financial difficulties like everyone else and the money will be important to help us continue with our planned developments," he said.

"The cash will be used to improve the use of ICT in all our lessons, and I think the very powerful lobby we have taken to the Government has had a lot to do with the settlement we have received."

And while the parents who have worked tirelessly to change the system were only "cautiously optimistic" that their work had made an impact, they warned this was just the start.

After last month's meeting with David Miliband, Helen Donovan - one of the leading parent campaigners - said: "You don't come away from one meeting having changed the whole system, but today definitely helped our case."

Parent-governor representatives Jonathan Pearsall and Juliet Brunner, who promote parents' views on education issues at the county council, agreed the meeting had helped put Worcester on the map.

In fact, the single coach-load of parents who joined Mrs Donovan in October gave Worcestershire's schools an immediate boost.

And next year's settlement - one of the biggest per cent increases in the country - is proof that the Government has not only acknowledged, but also started to redress, the funding crisis in Worcestershire's schools.