‘There’s no money in education’ was the heart-breaking declaration from the parent of a special needs child last week, fearful of what KCC’s cost-cutting plans will mean for her child.

The council - grappling with a £174million overspend in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities SEND) funding - has unveiled proposals to cut the number of children it directs towards special needs schools within two years.

It’s an announcement sending shockwaves through a community of already battle-worn parents who have known nothing but a fight to get their children the support - and funding - they believe they need.

It’s a policy, they argue, not with the best interests of pupils at its heart but one being driven by budgets and a pressing need to claw back cash.

So far just one academy chief executive officer has publicly questioned how such ideas will work in reality.

But you can’t help but wonder how many mainstream school leaders are now scratching their heads and wondering how they’ll scrape together the additional resources to accommodate an entirely new cohort of pupils with additional needs two school years from now.

Whether it’s the donation of a new school shed, boxes of tissues for runny noses in classrooms or the request for annual ‘school fund’ contributions - it’s no secret schools are strapped for cash and have been for a very long time.

Leaks, blocked drains, sewage problems, vermin, damp and mould were all raised in a survey of 8,000 National Education Union (NEU) members in April, which laid bare the extensive site issues crippling school blocks up and down the country.

A recruitment crisis and a greater reliance on substitute teachers is also rinsing budgets.

Most parents with a child in secondary school will know that ‘sub’ staff are common place throughout the school year and don’t any longer just make an occasional appearance on the timetable when someone is sick.

And it’s a sad fact that schools, which should be in nothing but the business of education, have had to turn education into a business.

Where everything from grounds maintenance to the canteen contract risks being put out to tender as leaders try to make the (increasingly limited) money stretch.

There’s also growing suspicion among some parents that impending rises in school fines for term-time holidays may turn out to be nothing but a cash cow, as many families will pay the penalty and jump on a plane anyway.

Meanwhile school trips are being scaled back or scrapped altogether as schools can’t fund, even with contributions from families, taking their children off-site.

Last week angry parents at one school hit out at their academy trust’s decision to change their primary’s name to include a nod to the London livery company now on board as a backer.

‘Corporate branding’ or simply the practical reality of needing to welcome private companies into the public sector to make the system a success?

Thanks to its controversial policy to tax private school fees to bolster the state sector, Labour’s education offer has had considerable attention during the election campaign.

Albeit it’s a decision on teachers’ pay that is likely to be top of ministers’ in-tray as final negotiations were thrown off course by July’s election and decisions are needed to make the profession an attractive career choice.

The new government is also expected to include plans for an education bill in its first King’s Speech on Wednesday where a more stringent cap on branded uniform items, a legal requirement for breakfast clubs and greater powers for Ofsted could be among the promises included there.

But there’s been little commitment on core spending and, above all, what schools need more of right now is money.

But with its tight purse strings and limited options, Labour is running out of time to find it.