The Tories want education to be directly funded by the executive

Scottish Tory leader David McLetchie said the move would enable band D council tax bills to be cut by between �302 and �469 across Scotland.

More than �3bn is spent each year on schools in Scotland, of which about one-fifth comes from council tax.

Labour said the plan would require cuts in spending or higher income tax.

Raise standards

The Tory plans are centred on "school passports" - vouchers which parents could use to have their children educated at the school of their choice.

"This would not be a cut in education funding - it would be an improvement to the education system and a well-deserved and long overdue break for council taxpayers," Mr McLetchie said.

He argued that with an extra �4.2bn allocated to Scotland by Chancellor Gordon Brown over the next three years, the Scottish Executive had enough cash to implement tax cuts now.

But a Labour spokesman said: "This will do nothing to raise standards in schools.

"If you cut council tax, the money has to come from somewhere.

"Either the Tories want to cut spending on schools, which we know is always their favoured option, or they want to raise income tax for hard working families.

"Either way, families would lose out under the Tories."