Bold Politics with Zack Polanski What Happens When You Underfund Education | Daniel Kebede | Zack Polanski
Feb 3, 2026
Daniel Kebede, General Secretary of the National Education Union and former teacher, leads campaigns on school funding, SEND provision and teacher working conditions. He discusses how austerity shapes pupil behaviour and narrows the curriculum. He argues for universal free school meals, inclusive mainstream education, and stronger union organising to defend public education.
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Pay, Workload and Emotional Burnout
- Teachers now earn about 20% less in real terms than in 2010 and work roughly 50-hour weeks.
- Kebede links pay decline, excessive workload and emotional burden to mass teacher attrition and poor retention.
Class Of 33 Without Support
- At an Arthur Terry trust strike Daniel met a teacher with 33 pupils and no support staff amid rising pupil need.
- The teacher's situation exemplified how cuts and staffing losses translate to untenable classrooms.
SEND System Is Broken And Privatized
- SEND provision is failing due to rising pupil need, limited funding and reliance on private, profit-driven independent placements.
- Kebede recommends renationalising SEND services and funding mainstream inclusion properly to meet needs.