SIR – The recent Editorial (T&A, November 16) offers a simple solution to the problem of parents being unable to obtain places at their preferred school. Equally fund, resource and staff schools, and magically “parental choice would become redundant”.

The truth is that schools are more or less equally funded right now and that is the problem – most of the money a school receives is based upon pupil numbers.

The level of deprivation funding and funding to meet special educational needs is inadequate to support the difficult work that schools serving deprived communities face on a daily basis.

Equalising the challenges that schools face, rather than the resources they receive would require the bussing of children, which would delight many parents in deprived communities but horrify many parents from more affluent families. That is not going to happen.

Until more radical solutions are acceptable, I believe we have to put far more effort into celebrating the impressive value-added achieved by some of our schools serving deprived communities. We also need to provide disproportionate levels of funding, resources and staff.

History shows that if you treat equally those who are unequal, you simply reinforce the inequality.

Councillor David Ward (Lib Dem, Idle and Thackley), Greenfield Lane, Idle, Bradford