Mr McArthur says the tax rise plans are progressive, with the richest paying far more than those on lower incomes.

The Lib Dem MSP says Holyrood will now have the powers and they must be used.

He says: "Ministers are willing to talk left and walk right."

Scottish Lib Dems education spokesperson Liam McArthur says the education system is slipping down the international standings.

Mr McArthur says the Scottish government's cuts of £500m to local authorities are "savage".

It is those local authorities that are taxed with delivering our schools and childcare.

"These cuts will be most felt by our children and in our classrooms."

Scottish Lib Dems education spokesperson Liam McArthur adds his amendment to the end of the Labour motion and in it says that, while Scotland has traditionally excelled in education and many aspects of the system remain world class, its international advantage is slipping. 

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The Orkney MSP says there is an urgent need for new measures to close the attainment gap and also says college places have been cut by 152,000 since 2007. 

Mr McArthur says businesses are struggling to find the skills that they need. 

He endorses the proposal to put a penny on income tax, raising £475 million per year, to prevent planned education cuts, improve life chances and strengthen the economy.

Mary Scanlon says she has never, ever known the relationship between the Scottish executive and Scottish government and local government has never been so badly divided.

She accuses the Scottish government and Mr Swinney of arrogance and bullying,

The Conservative MSP  calls for an end to the constant battles between the Scottish government, local authorities and the EIS. 

Ms Scanlon criticises the fall in college student places.

The Conservative MSP acknowledges the crucial role of vocational education and is disappointed that free tuition in higher education has been prioritised over adequate funding for colleges. 

The Highlands and Island MSP says 152,000 places at colleges have been lost since 2007 and she highlights the importance of substantially increasing funding for colleges.  

Scottish Conservative education spokesperson Mary Scanlon uses her amendment to say the primary focus of education policy must be on reducing the attainment gap between the most and least deprived pupils. 

Ms Scanlon says this will be achieved by head teachers being given significantly more autonomy to run their schools, including giving Scottish Attainment Challenge funding directly to schools and ensuring that this money is awarded to deprived children, regardless of where they attend school.   

Scottish government ministers say that with the changes coming in April they can't redistribute tax across bands and that's why they're not going to change things. 

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said this was not progressive, as the powers are set out. 

However, the SNP's opponents are putting forward plans to vary the Scottish Rate of Income Tax.

Scottish Labour says it should happen this April, adding 1p - to rise to 21p basic rate and 41p higher rate - and raising money "to protect public services". 

It claims it could give a rebate to those earning less than £20,000. 

Labour can be expected to say something similar in its Holyrood manifesto. 

Scottish Liberal Democrats want a similar increase, aimed at the protection of education spending. 

A Scottish Conservative-appointed commission argued that the total tax burden should not rise any higher in Scotland than it is in the rest of the UK. 

Under Ruth Davidson's leadership, it may argue for an SRIT tax cut after the May election. 

Or it could propose some tinkering with the bands. 

Its commission proposed an intermediate banding, of perhaps 30p, for a tranche of earnings between the standard and higher rates. 

Education Secretary Angela Constance says Scotland is not the only country managing a poor financial settlement from Westminster.

Ms Constance says Labour should join the SNP against a UK government trying to do harm to all the public services, not least education.

The minister accuses Labour of half-baked plans on tax.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie intervenes saying there needs to be a progressive policy of a penny on income tax for education.

Ms Constance insists the education portfolio funding has increased by 1%.

Ms Constance accuses Labour of "gesture politics of the worst kind".

She says funding for education has in fact increased by more than 1% and, far from falling, education funding is set to increase by 3.3%.

Raising income tax by a penny would hit low income households the hardest, says the education secretary.

She accuses Labour of indulging in "fantasy economics".

Ms Constance says it is a fiction by Labour to say there will be a 16% cut in education resources over the next four years.

The education secretary says there is an election to be held soon and that is when the government will set out its proposals for education in its manifesto.

She says she will "not stand aside and let the low paid be punished further" by Labour's tax plans.

Education Secretary Angela Constance uses her amendment to highlight the increase in local government education resource spending of at least £208 million since 2006-07 and the planned increase of 3.3% in 2015-16. 

The education secretary says Scottish education is already performing well, with attainment improving. 

She highlights the OECD view that Scottish education has the potential to lead the world. 

The education secretary adds that there is more to do to improve education, and agrees that protection of the pupil-teacher ratio, investment in closing the attainment gap and reform of how attainment is assessed is the right way forward.

Education Secretary Angela Constance says the government is investing £7.2bn in education in the current year.

Ms Constance says the government is making progress on closing the attainment gap. 

In April, there will be a Scottish Rate of Income Tax. So, how will it work in practice;

Image source, PA

Of the 20p now being paid from £1 of basic rate income (paid on earnings above £10,600 and up to £42,375) 10p of that is going to be levied by the Scottish Parliament. 

That 10p amount could be varied up or down

Ms Dugdale says the only responsible choice is to use Holyrood's powers to protect education.

The Scottish Labour leader says education should be a budget priority.

She says SPICE, the IPPR, the University of Stirling, the Resolution Foundation and the House of Commons Library says Labour's tax rise plans are not regressive as the first minister claims, but progressive.

The plans are the only viable alternative to cutting education now, she insists.

Earlier this month MSPs rejected plans for income tax rates to increase by 1p in Scotland from April of this year. 

Labour and the Liberal Democrats had said the move would raise £500m to safeguard education and other public services. 

But Finance Secretary John Swinney said increasing income tax would punish Scotland's lowest-paid workers. 

He has vowed to keep income tax rates the same as the rest of the UK for the time being. 

Ms Dugdale says: "There is a choice some of us can pay a little more or we will all get a lot less."

These cuts are not just to our schools they are to our future, says the Labour MSP.

She says we simply cannot afford not to invest in our future. 

Ms Dugdale says the SNP have promised to protect the NHS and police spending in real terms over the next five years.

The Scottish Labour leader asks if the SNP will make the same pledge on education.

She says the SNP "pretends to stand on the left but when it comes to the crunch but stands for nothing."

Labour Leader Kezia Dugdale says her party will not make cuts to education.

Ms Dugdale says those who oppose this leave the only conclusion that they will cut education. 

Labour has called for an immediate 1p increase in Scottish income tax rates. 

The party said the move would raise about £500m every year, which it said would be enough to avoid cuts to education and other local services. 

Holyrood will be given limited powers over income tax rates from April, with more flexible powers later due to be devolved under the Scotland Bill. 

The Scottish government has said it will not alter income tax rates until these greater powers come into force. But that will not be until next year at the earliest.