The Education Secretary Charles Clarke has tried to pin the blame for the schools' "funding crisis" firmly on local councils.
 Clarke: Carrot and stick approach |
He said the government would publish local authority returns which would show some councils had not been passing on to schools all the money they should have.
Councils have been blaming the government for budget shortfalls which have led some schools to say they may have to make staff cuts.
The row centres on the so-called "missing millions" - about �500m which councils say are needed to balance schools' books.
In a BBC news interview, the education secretary said it was possible some councils might get more money.
But he also threatened to consider "clipping the wings" of education authorities in next year's funding round.
In his speech to the NASUWT teachers' union conference in Bournemouth, Mr Clarke said he had heard so far from more than 90 LEAs about how they had allocated money this year.
They still had about �339m to allocate to schools and a fifth of them had �5m or more yet to hand out.
Eighteen had added up to 3% more than the overall increase in the schools budget.
Four - which he will not identify until after the elections - had allocated at least 3% less, 16 between 2% and 3% less, 29 between 1% and 2% less and 28 up to 1% less.
Possiblity of more
Local councils have accused the government of miscalculating the extra money schools need to cover increases in teachers' pay, National Insurance and pension contributions.
The education secretary told the Today programme on BBC Radio Four there was a possibility of more government money for some councils, although he did not think it would be needed.
"On the basis of what we've seen so far, I don't think that will be necessary, but I'm not closing my mind to that and if they can demonstrate it's necessary, I will consider it," he said.
Straight after the local council elections next week, he would be writing to all councils about their spending returns, asking them to release more money to schools.
The Liberal Democrat education spokesman Phil Willis said: "The secretary of state should publish his complete figures today and allow full scrutiny of where the missing millions actually are."
The Conservative spokesman, Damian Green, said: "Charles Clarke's attempt to blame local authorities for the crisis in school funding is a shameless piece of buck-passing.
"He knows that what the government has given with one hand it has taken away with another."
War of words
If that part of the speech was likely to anger local councils, other parts of it will further stoke the row between the government and the biggest teaching union.
There has been a war of words between the government and the National Union of Teachers (NUT) since the union refused to sign up to reforms aimed at cutting teachers' workload by increasing the role of classroom assistants.
On Tuesday, the NUT at its conference accused the government of running a totalitarian state.
Now Mr Clarke has said the NUT's "sloganising" and "antics" at its conferences had damaged the standing of teachers, making parents wonder what kind of people were teaching their children.
"Nothing does more to depress the reputation and standing of teachers than to witness the annual antics that go on there," he said.
Mr Clarke turned down an invitation to speak at the NUT's conference after it refused to sign up to the workload plans.
The NASUWT agreed to the deal, which it says will dramatically improve teachers' working lives.
Tests to stay
Mr Clarke said the NUT seemed hell-bent on throwing away the respect and trust teachers had won.
He praised the NASUWT for being "key partners" in the workload agreement.
 While we remain open to listen to constructive points from unions such as yours - and indeed from others - about the content of the tests, the tests are here to stay and so too are targets  |
The NUT has said it will ballot on strike action if teachers' job are threatened by the changes.
It was angered by reports of Mr Clarke's speech, saying it was the government that was guilty of sloganising.
In his speech, the education secretary also dismissed calls for the abolition of national tests and league tables.
He told delegates that tests and targets were "here to stay" and politicians who called for them to be scrapped were living in "Alice's wonderland".
Shadow Education Secretary Damian Green recently announced the Conservatives would abolish the targets schools are set on national tests.
The Liberal Democrats are committed to scrapping the central targets and the league tables.
No merger
Mr Clarke's speech highlighted the growing rift between the two main teaching unions.
It was not surprising that on Wednesday delegates at the NASUWT shelved discussions about any possible merger.
The idea of a super-union of teachers, taking in the NASUWT, NUT and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, has been floated for some time.
NASUWT voted to rule out a merger but to look into the idea of forming a federation with the other two unions and of pooling services to members, such as legal advice.
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