EDUCATION, education, education. That was Labour's pledge in 1997.

Four years on and where are we? Class sizes up, teachers under pressure as never before and Worcestershire's education funding among the lowest in the country.

In fact, Labour have spent less on education as a share of the nation's wealth, than the previous Conservative Government!

The least that parents expect for the taxes they pay is a decent school for their children. Labour promised much on education, but have failed to deliver largely because they have tried to run the nation's schools from Whitehall.

Conservatives offer a very different approach. We will give parents choice and headteachers freedom.

We want schools with high standards, their own traditions, a distinct ethos and control over their own destiny.

Under "hard Labour" teachers are treated as branch managers directed from the centre.

Small wonder they are leaving the profession in droves and head teachers struggle to fill teaching vacancies.

We will set schools free to shape their future and develop their own character.

We will abolish the rule which prevents the exclusion of disruptive pupils.

We will match the Government's planned spending on education, but spend it better by giving the funding direct to the schools according to the number of pupils.

On average, a school would receive an extra £540 per pupil to spend on its own priorities - an extra £540,000 for a school of 1,000 pupils.

That's good news for Worcestershire, currently third from bottom in the education funding league under Labour.

Our direct funding would remove the unfairness which forced our headteachers to take their complaints to Whitehall earlier this year.

As we look to the future for Kidderminster College, it's worth remembering that students in further education feel particularly betrayed by Labour, with tuition fees, top-up fees for further education courses and little on offer to relieve the burden of debt.

Some students are deterred from going to college while graduates are put off vital jobs in teaching or in the health service.

Under "hard Labour", student loans must be repaid when a graduate's income reaches £10,000.

We would double this threshold to £20,000 and allow an annual £3,500 tax break.

We will not introduce top-up fees.

All of these positive policies are geared towards liberating potential and securing the best education for our children and students - rather than soundbites and spin.

It's an alternative programme which only the Conservatives can deliver for Wyre Forest against Labour's betrayal.