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Teaching unions have accused Theresa May of leaving Britain’s state education system on the brink of collapse with vicious Tory cuts.

And more than 500 heads are so angry with the PM’s wilful destruction of schools they have written her an open letter demanding she scrap her £3billion cuts plan, fearing it will put the futures of millions of pupils in jeopardy.

The unprecedented response came after the Mirror revealed staff are having to beg parents for cash to help them provide basic educational materials.

And teachers told how they are facing an impossible task as colleagues are axed, class sizes swell and morale hits rock bottom.

National Association of Head Teachers leader Russell Hobby said the cuts “put the stability of the whole ­education system at risk”.

He added: “We are hearing more and more stories of schools forced to ask parents for money.

“It is embarrassing to ask for money in a modern education system and unfair to parents who cannot afford it.

(Image: Getty)

“Ministers should no longer be allowed to claim that school funding is protected.

“All schools are operating under ­unacceptable levels of financial pressure.

“This is a result of the Government’s choice to freeze spending.

“But the Government is flatly refusing to admit the reality. Until they do, all schools are at risk.”

(Image: Getty)

The letter to Mrs May highlights her empty promise made on the steps of Downing of creating a “country that works for everyone”. It read: “That begins with our children. Yet schools are facing cuts of £3billion. This will have a massive impact on young people.”

Teachers last night lined up to tell horror stories of how Tory cuts are cripling their schools.

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Sam Offord, who is a Manchester primary head, said: “I had to make five teachers redundant. We lost support staff and we are going to have to make considerable changes. It is the first time since I started teaching in 1989 that I have been involved in anything this drastic.”

Kate Davies, head of Darton College in Barnsley, added: “We had to cut out the whole of the community team.”

(Image: Getty)

Burnwood Community School in Staffordshire ­business manager Graham Colclough said: “School budgets are at breaking point. In my own we are looking at a reduction of over £140,000. It is looking very difficult ahead.”

Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner added: “Seven years of Tory failure have led to the most severe spending cuts to schools in a generation. It is time the PMr listened to teachers and parents, and woke up to the crisis she has created.”

NAHT’s conference in Telford, Shrops, today warns ­education will be a disaster if the Tories get in at the next election and continue their war on schools.

Education ministers insist school spending is at record levels and will increase further.

But NAHT’s own research found 72% of heads fear their budgets will be ­untenable by 2019/20 and 18% are already in deficit

The letter

Dear Prime Minister,

On the steps of Downing Street you promised a country that works for everyone. That begins with our children.

Yet schools are facing real-terms cuts of £3billion. This will have a massive impact on young people and standards of education.

To make ends meet, head teachers will be forced to make staff redundant, cut subjects, increase class size and cut back on extracurricular activity.

More and more schools are reluctantly asking for donations as a last resort to bring their budgets back from breaking point. Parents should not have to dip into their own pockets to make up for the investment Government is unwilling to provide.

The future of our country depends upon the next generation. Their skills, their knowledge, their confidence and their creativity.

Let’s stop seeing education as a cost and instead see it as an investment in the future. A good place to begin would be to reverse the £3billion in cuts.

Yours,

Russell Hobby

General secretary of the school leaders’ union NAHT and 500-plus head teachers

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