The government's £1bn deal with the DUP could have paid for at least one extra teacher for every secondary school across the UK, including 10 more teachers in Gateshead, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.
Official figures show there are 4,169 state-funded secondary schools in the UK and that the average cost of employing a teacher is £44,500. This means if the additional £1bn had been distributed evenly among the UK's schools, each would receive £240,000, enough to hire one additional teacher in each secondary school over the next five years.
This would have meant an additional £2.4 million of spending on schools in Gateshead, enough to hire 10 teachers in each secondary school in the borough.
Liberal Democrat Leader of the Opposition on Gateshead Council, Jonathan Wallace, said, "The £1 billion Theresa May has spent on her deal with the DUP could have been spent employing 10 extra secondary school teachers in Gateshead.
"When it comes to the Tories clinging to power, it seems the magic money tree does exist after all. This simply won't wash with parents in Gateshead seeing their schools considering laying off teachers as a result of crippling cuts.
"The Conservatives must start investing more in our schools and not just on keeping Theresa May in Downing Street."
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