For a long time, it seemed as though the debate on school funding was locked in an endless loop.
Headteachers’ urgent warnings about a lack of money forcing them to make cuts were met with the same government statements insisting more cash than ever before was going into the system.
The two positions seemed destined to remain miles apart. And nothing demonstrated this gulf more than when the chancellor’s budget last year announced additional money for schools for “the little extras they need”.
The message could not have been more demoralising. As if woefully insufficient funding wasn’t bad enough, heads found that their warnings about the reality for their schools were falling on tin ears.
Now, suddenly, it feels as if there has been a change.
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The issue of school funding has broken back through into mainstream news and politicians cannot ignore it.
In the past two weeks, millions of parents have been sent letters home from headteachers warning about the rising costs they face which are not being funded, as part of the WorthLess? campaign.
Elsewhere, the news that some schools have decided to close on Friday afternoons to cut costs prompted Labour MP Jess Phillips to organise a protest of pupils singing the Baby Shark song outside Downing Street.
And yesterday, chancellor Philip Hammond was grilled about school finances on the Andrew Marr show.
There was a change evident, too, at the Association of School and College Leaders conference at the weekend.
Twelve months ago, headteachers’ frustrations on funding spilled over as education secretary Damian Hinds was jeered and heckled on the event’s main stage.
This year, he left to polite applause after telling heads he had heard the message on school funding loud and clear.
Despite the clear financial difficulties still facing schools, the mood among heads was definitely more positive this year.
And what seemed to encourage school leaders most was the message that ASCL has just sent to the government.
The union has used the government’s own curriculum-led financial planning tools to arrive at a figure for how much it thinks schools need nationally next year.
It is some £5.7 billion more than they currently receive.
As ASCL’s general secretary Geoff Barton said, this is based on some assumptions about what a state education should look like, about the courses run, having qualified teachers in front of every class and of how big class sizes should be.
Hinds didn’t comment on the figure but he welcomed ASCL carrying out the analysis.
It remains to be seen whether the education secretary can secure a significant increase for schools from the Treasury but it feels like ASCL has helped change the tone of the debate with this latest intervention.
By framing the funding need in the way it has, heads have made the debate not just about the deficits and shortfalls, not just about headline figures but also about the importance of education.
The message to the government is clear: this is what we think a state education should be. This is how much we think it will cost. Tell us: where are we wrong?
