Sector leaders are urging political parties to pledge to eradicate spiralling SEND deficits, set a school leader working-hours cap and create an independent curriculum body ahead of the next election. The proposals form part of school leaders鈥 union ASCL鈥檚 2024 election manifesto, which sets out its blueprint to fix England鈥檚 鈥渃rumbling鈥 education system. Geoff Barton General secretary Geoff Barton argued the policies will help to 鈥済ive children and young people a more equal chance of thriving鈥. 鈥淏ut pupils will only do so if there are also enough teachers. Any incoming government must address the worsening recruitment and retention crisis as a matter of urgency. 鈥淭eachers are the foundation upon which the education system is built and that foundation is currently crumbling.鈥 The document, which was published today, includes a number of issues the union has campaigned on previously, including an uplift to teacher wages that 鈥渁t least keeps pace with inflation鈥. Here are the most interesting proposals鈥 1. Take steps to protect leaders “from excessive working hours by agreeing national standards around maximum working hours and guaranteed minimum leave periods”. 2. Broaden the scope of the school teachers鈥 pay and conditions document (STPCD) to include school business managers and 鈥渃ommon roles鈥 in MATs such as chief executives. Trusts should be 鈥渞equired鈥 to use the document as a benchmark when setting their pay. 3. Address the inadequacy of SEND funding, 鈥渋nvesting in a way that eradicates historic debt and supports the system to thrive鈥. Schools Week revealed last year how the financial blackhole at the heart of the SEND system had ballooned to 拢1.3 billion, an increase of more than 拢450 million in just 12 months. 4. Replace the notional SEND budget with an agile funding model that 鈥渞esponds rapidly to meet the current and sometimes fluctuating needs of pupils鈥. The government currently recommends schools use the cash to pay for up to 拢6,000 of special educational provision to meet a child鈥檚 needs. 5. Introduce a 鈥渢ailored student loan repayment arrangement鈥. This would see those specialising in subjects hit hardest by the recruitment crisis having their loans written off completely. There would then be a 鈥渟liding scale of repayment rates depending on subject, phase, sector, whether the teacher is in a hard-to-recruit area, and how long they stay in the profession鈥. into a student loan reimbursement trial found its influence on teachers鈥 career choices was 鈥渟ubtle鈥, and that its impact was 鈥渓imited鈥 for staff who had concerns over workload and their work-life balance. 6. Ditch performance tables and instead create an 鈥渁ccountability dashboard鈥 or 鈥渂alanced scorecard鈥 to reflect the 鈥渙utcomes parents and young people care about鈥. 7. Review the mechanisms compelling schools to join an academy trust in a 鈥渂lunt way鈥. One of the policies the union believes should be looked at is the government鈥檚 鈥渃oasting鈥 powers, which were introduced in September. The intervention powers allow regional directors to force schools and academies into new trusts if they receive back-to-back Ofsted grades below 鈥榞ood鈥. 8. A universal 鈥減assport鈥 qualification in literacy and numeracy should be launched. ASCL argued this would 鈥渆nable school leavers to demonstrate their competence in these crucial subjects and eliminate the need for the endless cycle of GSCE English and maths resits鈥. Exam board AQA is already exploring a similar idea. 9. An independent body tasked with shaping the curriculum and assessments. The body would consider the 鈥渓earning we need to prioritise in our schools鈥 and what 鈥渓ong-term changes may be needed to the curriculum鈥. The union explained that it would be similar to the independent School Teachers鈥 Review Body 鈥 which makes recommendations on teacher pay each year 鈥 and advise the prime minister and secretary of state. A major study by Lord David Blunkett, to inform Labour party policies, called for something similar. 10. Undertake a review of recent changes to the initial teacher training market, 鈥渨hich have led to the closure of a number of providers and left many potential teachers unable to access training in their local area鈥. 11. Urgently rebuild capacity in child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS). ASCL said the same steps need to be taken in children鈥檚 social care, police support services and careers advice and guidance services. The manifesto noted schools and colleges have become the 鈥渇ourth emergency service鈥 or 鈥渓ast civic institution standing鈥.