‘More school cuts will break the children or teachers – or both’

Glasgow City Council said it would do everything possible to minimise any impact on schools, but that it had to look at every option as it attempted to save £108m over the next three years.

“We know that this will be a worrying time for everyone – for many years education spending has been prioritised, relative to other services, in the budget process,” said a spokeswoman.

“However, with the education budget now amounting to more than half of service expenditure directed by the council, it is significantly more challenging to protect education when substantial savings are needed.”

A spokesperson for local government body Cosla recognised the “vital role” of teachers but said progress could not be made by focusing on them alone.

“Investment is required in wider support that may well sit outside the classroom and indeed the school.

“It is for this reason that we are concerned about the approach of the Scottish government to date around the £145.5m for teacher numbers, which does not enable a holistic focus on improving outcomes.”

A Scottish government spokesman said it was committed to protecting teacher numbers.

“We are offering local authorities over £145m for that purpose,” he said.

“Talks are continuing with Cosla to reach an agreement which ensures that teacher numbers are protected, and we would strongly encourage any council planning teacher cuts to reconsider.”