Dundee City Council has denied slashing its education budget by £7 million but refused to say where the shortfall has gone.
An investigation into classroom funding by The Courier also revealed Fife’s spend in the sector has dropped by almost £2m at a time when funding increased across Scotland as a whole.
Comparative analysis of the 2014/15 and the 2013/14 budgets shows Dundee’s net spending fell from £127.4m to £120m, while there was a drop from £310.6m to £308.7m in the kingdom.
A spokeswoman for Dundee City Council said: “The education budget for 2014/15 has not been cut by £7m. The differences are explained by changes to the ways the budgets are allocated.”
Asked if the council could provide a breakdown detailing these changes, the spokeswoman said: “Unfortunately not.”
Shelagh McLean, head of service at Fife Council, said the figure for the last year was “provisional”.
She added: “Our understanding is that the information here is not comparing like with like because the figure for 13/14 is an actual outturn, while the 14/15 figure is a provisional outturn.
“The education budget for Fife for 14/15 has not reduced.”
Scottish Conservative young person spokeswoman Liz Smith pointed to issues raised with the education sector in recent months, including falling literacy and numeracy standards.
The Mid Scotland and Fife MSP said: “This move shows the intense pressure under which local authorities are having to operate their budgets and I am sure there will be concern among parents that schools might get short-changed unless there is very careful management of the process.
“We should not forget that spending on schools is falling at the same time as literacy and numeracy standards are falling and the attainment gap is widening, and at the same time as teacher numbers are declining.
“All in all, this is leading to parental concerns that education does not have the focus it deserves and I am sure some will question whether this will improve with a merged departmental structure.”
The information came to light as Scotland’s largest teachers’ union the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) prepared to gather for its annual general meeting in Perth today.
Delegates will raise the prospect of industrial action up to and including striking on issues of pay, while members will also consider taking action if workload issues remain unresolved.
A call for the EIS to “investigate and report on the impact of teacher shortages” will also be discussed, along with a motion condemning “budget cuts which have been inflicted on Scottish education in recent years”.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Despite Westminster austerity, we remain wholly committed to mitigating the effects of welfare cuts and ensuring our education system is resourced to continue to meet the needs of children, parents, schools and communities.
“Figures published last week show councils are planning to spend 3.3% more on the delivery of education in 2015-16 the largest increase in six years. Local government has been treated very fairly despite the UK Government’s cuts to the Scottish budget.”