ONCE again, we find ourselves banging the drum on behalf of underfunded Worcestershire schools. And, once again, we make no absolutely apology for doing so.

It's ridiculous that the crisis has reached the point where headteachers are having to dip deeply into their own pockets to buy the legal backing for a fight to win more cash for children in the county. It's indefensible, too.

We despair at how long that's been the case and have to say that - although each side of the Parliamentary divide has been active in trying to secure a fairer Standard Spending Assessment for our children - both Labour and Tory MPs must take responsibility for it remaining pathetically low.

Three years ago, for instance, the new Labour Government provided an injection of cash to breathe life into some pretty sad school buildings. It was the first such boost since the Tories came to power in 1979.

In February, we took a £1.35m handout as a tacit Government admission that the case for extra funding was fair.

Not so. Sadly, since then, in refusing to amend the assessment formula for the forseeable future, the Department of Education has effectively decided that the future of our children's education - compared with the well-heeled Home Counties, for example - is of minimal importance.

Worcester MP Mike Foster may disagree with that interpretation, but that's how it looks from here.

It goes without saying that our support for the headteachers will be unflinching as they battle to prove that their pupils' human rights are being infringed by the discrepancy in funding across the country.

They deserve to win. Indeed, for the sake of every family in the county, they must.