SIR - Ruth Kelly, one-time Worcestershire schoolgirl, and now education secretary, crept secretly into a Redditch school during the Easter holidays, and then stated that she disagreed with campaigners' claim that "Worcestershire schools do not receive enough government funding."
She then cited the £900 per pupil real terms increase for Worcestershire children since 1997.
What she failed (and always fails) to cite was that many other children in other authorities have had much larger increases in per pupil terms, of up to £2,050, and that some of these received more funding per pupil way back in 1997.
Who were the mysterious funding campaigners anyway? I certainly wasn't aware of her visit (which was probably just the way she and Tony liked it).
As her visit was kept secret, no one "more representative" of the county's views as a whole was able to comment, only the smiling and back- patting "yes" brigade.
Preaching to the converted and a selected audience is easy, Ruth. Come back openly on a future visit, to a school other than one in the relative safety of your school minister's constituency, and answer some real funding questions.
HELEN DONOVAN,
Evesham.
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