DEVON'S SCHOOLS are joining with the county council to make a fresh appeal for fair funding for education.

They are sending a joint plea to national education chiefs to change the funding system for schools which sees the county sitting 148th out of 151 local authorities.

Every child in a Devon school is now worth £4,005 compared with a national average of £4,398 – a difference of £393.

The appeal is being jointly launched by Devon County Council's Cabinet and the Devon Education Forum, which represents heads, teachers, parents, governors and other school leaders.

They have made a comprehensive submission to the Department for Children, Schools and Families which is looking at the funding formula for schools from 2011 to 2014.

The submission recognises that not every authority can be funded at the average.

But it continues: 'There is no doubt Devon's pupils are being penalised as its rural deprivation issues have not been recognised by the existing indicators and challenges of rural sparsity are inadequately funded.

'There already exists a national formula for 16 to19-year-olds. This should be extended for the whole 0 to 19 age range. It would go a considerable way to stopping the current inequalities.'

Devon's cabinet member for schools and skills, Christine Channon, said there were considerable and increasing pressures on school funding.

The current formula failed to recognise the high percentage of children in Devon schools with additional educational needs.

'As soon as possible we need to organise a lobby of Devon MPs to look at this and get in an early request to see the new Education Secretary Michael Gove,' said Mrs Channon.

'We have put a good case together and I believe this new Government will have sympathy for our argument from an educational point of view.

'Devon schools do well academically despite their poor funding and that is a measure of the quality of teaching and the quality of leadership and governance we have in the county.'

Devon's director of learning and schools, Judith Johnson, said the Education Forum had fully backed the submission at its meeting last week.

'This is our last opportunity to influence the next three-year funding settlement from 2011 to 2014,' she said.

'This is a very critical opportunity and schools are very keen to support the county council and DEF submission with their own submissions.'

Devon's Liberal Democrat leader, Brian Greenslade, said the county's schools had been at the bottom of the funding table for far too long and now was the opportunity to make a difference.

There was unlikely to be any more money available but it was a question of getting a fairer distribution.

Labour leader Saxon Spence said Devon would have a more powerful case if it linked up with similarly poorly funded areas.