Teachers potentially striking again

[CitrusSparklePinkClouds]

Teachers want a pay rise above the rate of inflation this time.

1. Yes, don't we all?!
2. Haven't kids missed enough school?

So what’s the solution? Pray that it gets better? Keep quiet and hope it goes away?

I also support NHS staff who are about to vote about striking. Junior doctors pay has been locked into 2% annual pay rise which in real terms is a huge pay cut compared with inflation/ cost of living rise.

I’d argue that not striking hurts them more.

Teachers are leaving the profession in their droves. There aren’t enough new teachers. The Gov isn’t able to recruit and train anywhere near their target number. Pay being one huge reason why.

What part of the budget do you think school’s should cut to fund the pay rise offered so far? The Gov need to fund the rise fully and increase school budgets. It’s an absolute disaster.

@CitrusSparklePinkClouds I have been a teacher for 7 years have there hasn’t been a strike in my career.

Sorry but you are totally out of order. I think strikes need to happen for the sake of the children. For all school staff!

Minimum wage keeps rising but our wages haven’t… meaning I have trained for 4 years to be almost paid the equivalent of someone working as a cashier at Asda. That’s no disrespect to someone doing that job. But the issue is teachers and other staff in education are leaving the profession to do just that. Simply because they can earn the same wage with less demands.

We are in desperate need of staff and had zero applications. The problem is real!

I hope teachers strike, I hope pretty much the entire country strikes as a pp said.

I actually think it's vital for our children's futures that we do this because we cannot go on being treated like this. Kids need feeding, clothing, and to have a decent standard of living- people are terrified at the moment in this cost of living crisis as to how they will do this for their kids.

And what about when they are adults, when they are earning awful pay and have crap workers rights because of everything the tories have done? I actually think it's vital for society to ramp up with strikes now. It's a massive pain, yes, but this can't go on.

Take up the slack for one day, to support the improvement of education for all children.

I know it is hard for others too, but I'm not able to do anything for them.

You know the target to recruit secondary school teachers was missed by a third this year. That doesn't include the ones who are leaving. A strike is the least of your worries. It's a very unattractive job at the moment. I'd be more worried about that.

Working through Covid was the single most stressful time of my life! Can we please STOP with this ridiculous narrative that schools were closed and teachers were at home drinking gin??

Most primary schools were open all the way through...mine had 75% of children IN SCHOOL! Plus we were teaching live online AT THE SAME TIME! It was a juggling and planning act that required many, many hours of work above and beyond! With hours of cleaning and safeguarding on top, with NO breaks as we had minimal staff in. Anyone who wasn't an actual teacher (admin/TA/cleaner etc) didn't come in. We did ALL of that too. I never worked less than 100 hours a week all through that time...I literally thought I was going to die of exhaustion.

So please...stop with this! We all worked through bloody covid! Primary schools were open...teachers were working.

Problem is, teacher strikes don’t tend to be very successful at getting what they want and tend to piss off the people we actually need to support us, so I don’t think it’s the right move.

Then, what IS the answer?

I support them striking, if you value your kids education (not just the babysitting) why wouldn't you.

perhaphs you have NO idea (& no interest) in how many teachers were losing?

mind you, you sound like you'd be happy if they shoved all the kids in the hall (where they still have one) & just babysat them.

stop being a) so selfish and b) so short sighted!

Minimum wage keeps rising but our wages haven’t… meaning I have trained for 4 years to be almost paid the equivalent of someone working as a cashier at Asda. That’s no disrespect to someone doing that job. But the issue is teachers and other staff in education are leaving the profession to do just that. Simply because they can earn the same wage with less demands.

We had a member of staff leave recently to work in Asda. They can take holidays in term time, and they leave work at work. No heading home to mark and plan. It was a small pay cut, but stepping away has done wonders for their mental health.

So did teachers, done in school and done online and some both

I don't blame them. I wouldn't do their job for that money in a million years.

This part about caring about kids; you have no fucking idea.

Yep.

All public sector workers across the board, health care, teaching, waste disposal, admin, support, green maintenance, in fact anything else you can think of should all receive regular pay rises in line with inflation. These jobs SHOULD be paid fairly and should reflect that they are vital to running our country. Every worker should feel valued.

Perhaps if these jobs were paid fairly and the workforce treated well, other private employers who treat their staff poorly would step up and change as they are being led by example.

If you want to know how I'd find it, I'd start by taxing high earners and big corporations.

So while I don't want strikes as my kids have been unsettled enough with all the in and out learning through covid, I wouldn't blame them

@TooMuchToDoTooLittleInclination

Then, what IS the answer?

Stop voting Tory.

Schools aren't like most employers, we can't put our prices up or raise more money, we are given a set amount each year and we have to manage on that. Any increases, in energy costs, costs of supplies or salaries has to come out of that one pot. If salaries do go up by the 3-5% suggested, the money has to be taken from somewhere, salaries account for around 80-85% of costs so the only option is to make staff redundant to pay the ones we have left! It's a ridiculous way of working. We need properly funded increases to pay staff properly!

I support them - appalling treatment for the last 10-15 years. In the south, they literally can’t afford to live.

Another teacher hating idiot. Probably says 'I couldn't do it' in the same conversation as the teacher bashing 😅
But yes, you carry on. It's good to drum up hate for teachers in a society that depends on them.

The only issue I have with teachers striking is the knock on effect this will have on children missing once again vital learning time!

However, having friends who work in schools that are understaffed with overworked teachers & TA's I don't blame them. ... and that's before I think about the pittance some TA's receive.

Stop voting Tory

What a daft answer to a very sensible question. Even if people stopped voting Tory that wouldn't resolve all the current issues in schools and address the very major problems in budgeting, retention and recruitment.

If you don't have any sensible ideas then honestly stop fucking moaning about teachers trying to do the best for your child.

I know it is hard for others too, but I'm not able to do anything for them*

They have kids in school. Many of those kids are really suffering the fallout from missing so much if their education.

I'm not teacher hating.
I think they do a great job.
I'm asking them to do it.

Children are falling behind arbitrarily set expectations of what they SHOULD know, they will fall even further behind if there aren't any teachers left to teach them!