Teachers balloting for strike action - school closures

[noblegiraffe]

A pre-ballot poll from the NEU suggests that the ballot will be in favour.

The NASUWT have announced that their ballot will open around 27th October in England, Scotland and Wales, and will close on 9th January, I assume that the NEU will be doing similar and it would be joint action.

Strike action would mean school closures around Jan/Feb time and obviously this will impact parents who need to start thinking about arrangements for this eventuality. Please consider emailing your MP asking them to forward any concerns about this to Kit Malthouse, Secretary of State for Education, as any pressure on him from parents to avert strike action by entering pay negotiations would be highly welcome.

The current pay offer of 5% for most teachers is unfunded, meaning that it has to come out of current school budgets. This means that the pay rise will result in cuts to education provision for your children. However, this offer is after over a decade of real terms pay cuts for teachers and with inflation at 10%, teachers cannot afford more pay cuts and to continue to shoulder the burden of government financial incompetence and deliberate running into the ground of public services any longer.

The unions are asking for an above inflation fully funded pay rise for teachers. A teacher pay rise, any teacher pay rise, cannot come out of current school budgets as this will mean a lower quality of education for your children. This could involve even bigger class sizes, even fewer courses on offer, even less provision for SEN children, fewer school trips and extra curricular activities.

School funding has been devastated by the Tory government over the last 12 years. SEN funding has been cut: the impact falls on schools and teachers to deal with. CAMHS funding has been cut: the impact falls on schools and teachers to deal with. Schools are being asked to solve more and more of society's issues, with fewer and fewer resources. It's unsustainable.

People will tell you that teachers are well paid and don't deserve a pay rise. However, we have a critical shortage of teachers, and the obvious conclusion is that if we can't get teachers for the pay that is on offer, then the pay is not enough. Market forces, right?

The government know the impact of increasing pay to attract and keep teachers; they have, this week, announced a big increase to the teacher training bursaries in response to the truly dire and alarming numbers of applicants to teacher training this year. They have also introduced early career payments in shortage areas. They have yet to extend this logic to increasing teacher pay to retain more experienced teachers - the ones who are crucial in training and supporting the new and early career teachers.

I'm not suggesting in the slightest that teachers are more deserving than other workers, or that we have it harder than other workers. If you have also not had a pay rise in years, that's unacceptable. If you are balloting for strike action, or undertaking strike action to try to improve your working conditions, then all power and support to you. I really hope that school support staff join us in taking action.

This government is ruining the country. I think everyone can see that now. Instead of proposing increases to public funding, they are proposing further cuts. But we've already cut everything.

They'll claim there is no money, but then propose tax cuts for the best off. They'll reject windfall taxes even when Shell is asking for them. They'll claim that higher wages will increase inflation so they can't possibly increase wages, while talking about how important it is to move to a higher wage economy. Not higher wages for the ordinary worker though, they mean the ones already on high wages. The ones who would have benefited from the 45p tax rate cut that they've already had to u-turn on.

The DfE have said that strike will damage the education of children, that they can't afford to miss out on more school. Teachers, if they vote to strike, will be voting for better education. We want a qualified, decent teacher in front of every class. This is absolutely not happening at the moment, and will not have a chance of happening unless teacher pay and conditions improve.

TLDR: Support teachers; the government are self-interested, public service destroying, incompetent shitheads.

But how on earth will these strikes help matters? Do you think the government is going to turn round and give you everything you want? In the meantime the ones who suffer are the kids and the rest of the economy as we can’t work.

I suppose the question is - what happens if teachers DON’T strike, and take the current situation (as they have taken the gradual erosion of their pay and increase of the difficulty of their job over the last decade) lying down? Yes, you may have school open fir a few more days in the short term, but the current situation will mean job cuts within schools, as well as those staff who aren’t being made redundant leaving. This may well mean 4 day or 4.5 day schooling on a permanent basis to balance the books, or a further increase in unqualified ‘bodies in front of a class’ silently replacing teachers for more and more of each week.

If teachers want to preserve the quality of education in the short, medium and long term for your children, what do you propose that they should do, if not strike?

Parents and teachers should be working together. Whilst I sympathise about parents worries, it will only be days of disruption but we are fighting for long term and more sustainable good quality education.

But how on earth will these strikes help matters? Do you think the government is going to turn round and give you everything you want? In the meantime the ones who suffer are the kids and the rest of the economy as we can’t work.

The whole point of striking is to make an impact though.

Look at the rail strikes - that completely inconvenienced people but that was the point.

The one day of inconvenience is showing people what it would be like everyday if everyone changed their jobs.

Hardly anyone wants to train to be a teacher anymore and those that do become teachers want to leave.
Something needs to be done before everyone’s education suffers.

100% support

Let's also look at home much 5% actually looks like fur most teachers. Teachers with around 6 years experience will get an extra £30-£40 per week in their bank. 5% isn't a huge sum and it certainly won't make much of a dent in the amount prices have gone up.

On a personal level, it would be fairly easy for me to get a well paid job outside of education- in fact, I had one before I trained to teach. I enjoy a lot of aspects of teaching more, but that only goes so far when I can't get a mortgage with my salary in the area I want to live in.

So yes, I am fed up, but I also see the impact that teachers leaving education is having on students. And a school being short of one teacher can negatively impact a lot of students.

Inflation is 10% for all of us, but it's not really about that- it's about the fact that the recruitment and retention crisis in schools has been ongoing for years, and this, to some extent is the final nail in the coffin. If inflation wasn't 10%, and the current pay offer was funded, it might be enough to keep things going a bit longer. But as things are, and with the current state of teacher recruitment, I think there are going to be real problems in a lot of schools this year.

So no, if my union votes to strike, I won't just be striking because I'm fed up, I will be striking for the future of state education as a whole. And I think if you haven't seen the gaps in staffing in some schools, it's hard to grasp, and headteachers do us no favours when they try to hid these from parents.

I absolutely back the strikes.

I think our schools are a disgrace.
The additional pressures that are placed on our teachers and TAs are a disgrace.

People who are as much just saying teachers should crack on for the good of the children are clueless. The teachers are striking to highlight how our children are being delivered a massive disservice with regards to their education due to underfunding.
Do these really mean they dont want disruption to their kids or do they mean to them, because i know i will keep supporting and backing the very people who do care about our kids...enough to strike to get better for those children.

Sadly i think the public have this very misplaced opinion of teachers and their proffession, if their JD was constantly being expanding, workloads doubling, their responsibilities being everly increased without a thought for their welfare and safety of the children in their care, im not sure they would just crack on !!!

BTW, I think the will is there among many teachers to hold out for as long as necessary, and to have escalating strikes if the government don't offer something. I do think it'll get tricky around exam time- I know most teachers won't want to strike then. But I think a lot of teachers are expecting a long haul in terms of strikes- and they're prepared to do it because they see no other option.

I support teachers (and TA's) but I'm sick of seeing these threads by the same OP.

How else do you expect teachers to get a better pay?

All the rights we have now, from holidays to sick pay to weekends or women vote and yes wages has been earn on the back in strikes and industrial actions.
Thats the one and only way people have to make pressure on the government.

Does anyone know the dates?

Yes, it's terrible having a teacher on MN who cares that state education is properly run and funded, and wants to ensure parents understand the situation so they aren't surprised when their y1 class has no TA or only a qualified teacher in the mornings, or GCSE maths lessons being given by a geography teacher.
Much better that people live in ignorance with fingers in their ears going la la la.

I support the strike and will write to my MP.

Given CPS barristers have just been given a 15% payrise following strike action it's hard to see how the government can argue that any other workers are deserving if less. Yet as an NHS clinician I am fully aware that will never play out in practice. I fully support all industrial action however disruptive. Something has to happen to make current attrition rates for staff in all sectors

The ballot hasn't happened yet- the intention for NEU and NASUWT is to ballot after half term. This would mean strikes in January (my understanding from NEU officers is that the expectation would be to escalate with a slightly longer strike in February if one day strikes in January didn't work). If there isn't a quick resolution, it could be that strikes are seen all through the spring term, but hopefully things would be resolved before then.

Ideally, we'd all like a quick resolution, but I think a lot of teachers really have had enough. An FE college local to me has just voted for 4 days of strike action, straight off the bat, over pay. FE lecturers do tend to be paid worse than teachers, but I think it shows the strength of feeling and will over this.

Yes, it's terrible having a teacher on MN who cares that state education is properly run and funded actually there's more than one. Which I'm sure you know.

But if teachers want to raise awareness about issues then readers / lurkers are likely to be more interested and more likely to engage with a user who isn't so repetitive.

😊

The alternative is teachers will leave the profession and children will be taught by unqualified staff, in larger class sizes etc.

In my school we are down 3 science teachers, the rest of the dept is so overworked I expect they will start to leave soon. Another 3 teachers leaving at Christmas, not being replaced. Most parents have no idea how bad the situation in schools are- staffing, funding, behaviour, stress, parental abuse, mental health- because schools have to show a positive front for the sake of their students, parents and Ofsted.

Primary school teacher here though at present not in work due to family. All I can say is teachers are so undervalued. If I had a pound for everyone who said I had loads of holidays and a short working day I sound my need to work. The truth is 5 of my colleagues have left in the last year. 2 have worked in private teaching and two are working for a large insurance firm and one is working at Tesco’s. !! She said it is more pay, less hours and so much less stress. I worked most days from 7 am until 6pm. Sometimes much later in parents evening etc. when I got home I would be marking and lesson planning. I had a class of up to 30 children and have had up to 60 percent with addition needs. I worked during covid and rarely sleep well due to some worry.

teachers need and deserve a pay rise. We are losing so many great teachers due to poor pay and hours. Funding is appalling. I had to buy all my children books and lesson supplies. We need support. Kids need the support it is a daily fight to give the kids a good education.

But if teachers want to raise awareness about issues then readers / lurkers are likely to be more interested and more likely to engage with a user who isn't so repetitive.

Thanks for your advice, I’ll give it the consideration it deserves.

@noblegiraffe 🥱

The alternative is teachers will leave the profession and children will be taught by unqualified staff, in larger class sizes etc.

We are already there tbf.

Absolutely support striking to ensure the payrises are funded. My son has just gone into year 1 and is learning to read from books that are quite literally falling apart. Every week there is a new request from the school for donations of x, y and z (happy to help where I can), and this is a good, well sought after school. They absolutely wouldn't be able to fund the pay rises out of existing budgets. There's nothing left to cut.

Time to say enough is enough, in my opinion.

Yep- I feel one of the biggest problems is heads who paper over the cracks, and make their staff feel like they have to do so as well.

In a previous job, I've been in a similar situation, and I've been told to stick to the party line "we're trying to recruit and excellent teacher" etc. When really, I just want to tell parents the truth- there are no science and maths teachers, we can't recruit, and your child will likely be without a subject specialist until September at the earliest.

And yes, it definitely gets to be a vicious cycle in departments- one or two members of staff are lost, the workload for the rest shoots up, and you end up with more teachers leaving, and a really unstable department. The after effects of this can go on for years, even if the school manages to solve it.

And sometimes it's just bad luck e.g. a teacher leaves for another job at Christmas, another goes on maternity in January, and suddenly a department that was doing fine is on its knees.

In all honesty I think those more highly paid SLT need to shave their salary.

When one thinks of an over worked poorly paid support ta struggling on a nmw their head could be over 100 grand.

They are paid far far too much.

My sister's place has just offered a pay rise for those who earn up to 60 grand!!

60 thousand pounds and they are being offered a pay rise that will be a small drop in their monthly pay. But for those who earn under 20 grand that would make a massive difference.

I can't believe the union's have allowed it to be honest.
Up to 40/45 ok but 60 grand?

It's a disgrace.

The slt were also hidden away all during COVID when it was teachers and tas on that front line. Terrified!

So yes, I do support the strike, however, I am not supportive at all of these large salaries SLT get paid at all.
Nor union's trying to increase pay for people on 60 grand.

I would feel embarrassed to earn that much in the education system and be gunning for a pay rise at this time.

I don't believe for one second that Labour could make school better. Where would the money come from to sort out Sen when there is a deep veined distaste among teachers to help Sen?

The conservatives have hardly had the easiest ecconomic conditions in which to start splurging on education!

Education in my view, along with the NHS needs totally lifting out of politics and all funding and cultures need totally rethinking.