Apart from the materials and overlarge class sizes, and dyslexia etc support which are clearly a funding problem. The rest were management problems and could be solved relatively easily or cheaply.

Actually I'd say all those issues ultimately get solved by better funding which then allows for better levels of staffing, training and facilities. It's not rocket science, is it?

Better funding will not sort out those problems IMHO. Well apart from having the right resources to teach from. Some of the biggest problems in education is the ability of sub-standard teachers and management to carry on being in a job when they should be shown the door.

Yes but better management would solve most of those problems even without the funding. I did say that better levels of staffing and materials needed better funding. As for facilities schools need to have an end to a use it or loose it budget. If they have a surplus they should be able to roll it over to provide for big improvements rather than have to wait for local politicians to find the funds.

Which in turn links back to the situation where my sister, with 20+ years experience in teaching (much of it 'challenging' schools), can't get a teaching job because someone fresh from university, with no classroom experience, is cheaper.
Added to the fact that due a lack of staff in many schools, teachers end up working hours massively over those in their contracts just to get your kids through the system, then that in turn feeds into tired, exhausted staff who then can't teach to full abilities.
One school my sister was doing supply in (again, it was cheaper for the school to do that than employ someone) - the head mistress had sunk £20k of her own money into the school to keep the wheels turning.

You pay the money for good teachers, who have the experience, and pay for decent managers (who have practical teaching experience) and things would be different.

The bottom line is cash, and it's availability. The country doesn't have any, or what we do have we're spending on wars, and so investments in your children's education don't get made.

Yes cash can make a difference and if they want people to have better opportunities then they need to pump more money in, even with the credit crisis. It is a long term investment. To fail that is to fail an entire generation.