One of the many inequalities that we face in Worcestershire is the poor central government funding grant for per pupil funding. Under this grant, a pupil in Worcestershire will receive £3,864 for his or her education per year, whilst a pupil just a few miles away in Birmingham will receive £4,605.
Even more alarmingly, a school the same size as Kidderminster's Baxter College, doing an identical job but based in central London, will receive over £3 million a year more than Baxter, just because of location. Worcestershire ranks 141 in terms of per pupil funding out of 151 education authorities.
Of course I accept that there are differences in costs and local issues depending on where schools are located, but are they really that much?
I have been campaigning for years for a redress to this imbalance - to secure improved funding for Wyre Forest's school kids - and when Michael Gove, Shadow Education Secretary, visited a couple of weeks ago he confirmed it was Conservative policy to undertake a process of readjustment to this imbalance.
In the meantime, the organisation that has been set up to redress this unfair situation - f40 is urging people to sign up to a petition on the 10 Downing Street website. Please show your support for this non political campaign for fairer funding for schoolchildren by signing this petition.