Are pupils going to miss out?

Head teachers in Croydon say they need �10m extra this year to ensure their budgets are not cut severely.

Otherwise, class sizes may have to rise by up to a quarter, with around 100 staff losing their jobs, they added.

In February, Education Secretary Charles Clarke ordered Croydon to increase the money going to schools, using powers to set local education authority budgets for the first time.

'Stealth tax'

Last week, he said spending in the borough would rise by �1m and Croydon would get extra help with paying the recent salary increases for teachers.

Other authorities have complained they are being forced into large council tax increases to make up for the government's refusal to fund fully its drive to improve public services.

Conservatives have accused ministers of imposing a "stealth tax" via local government.

Croydon Headteachers' Association said it would be writing to parents to explain what was happening.

'Standards will fall'

A spokesman added: "The situation is appalling. We have been lobbying the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) for weeks now but we are still not getting enough money.

"This can only mean one thing - the standard of education in Croydon will deteriorate and every single Croydon school child will suffer."

The DfES wants Croydon to put an extra �3m into its schools - which would mean was passing on 92% of the national increase.

It said 124 of the 148 local education authorities in England had passed on all of the national increase in spending to schools.

A Croydon Council spokesman said: "It is disappointing that Croydon heads have issued such an alarmist statement that overstates what is nevertheless a real problem.

"We do not believe there should be any need for the kind of extreme measures which they have forecast.

"Regrettably, however, the secretary of state's recent intervention, which he subsequently agreed was based on a misunderstanding, raised expectations which cannot be met.