Why are bloody teachers striking AGAIN?

[noblegiraffe]

Because, dear hearts, the government, when they offered us a pay rise of 4.5%, mostly unfunded for next September and all 4 teaching unions thoroughly rejected it, Gillian Keegan said that teachers would then have to take their chances with the independent pay review body and that there would be no further negotiations.

So teachers did. And the independent pay review body, who seem to have rather more of a handle on the current crisis in teaching than the government, recommended that teachers should get a 6.5% pay rise to introduce some stability into the system.

We only know this because the independent pay review body findings have not been published, but this figure was leaked.

Calls for the government to publish the report have been ignored. Most recently, a freedom of information act request to the DfE for the report was rejected, because the DfE says it's "not in the public interest".

Why is it not in the public interest to know what the independent pay review body has recommended? This report is published every year.

In the meantime, Rishi is briefing the press that he will reject the independent pay review body's recommendations, after making a huge fuss about how he always accepts independent pay review body recommendations.

Why should this matter to parents? Because headteachers are currently trying to write their budgets for September. The end of term is approaching. This job is currently impossible because headteachers don't know how much more they are expected to pay teachers next year, (6.5%? 5?% 4.5%?) and they have no idea how much extra money their school will be given to account for the pay rise (all? some? None??). This makes a massive difference as staffing costs account for the vast majority of school budgets. Should they be planning to cut GCSE subjects? Make staff redundant? Or will they actually be able to plan in some literacy support? That they don't know is intolerable.

A senior government advisor said that school budgets last year weren't worth the paper they were written on because of this same issue, and that it shouldn't be allowed to happen again.

Yet here we are.

The government are trying to drag this out to the summer before they make their pay announcement because then they'll be on their holidays and the 4 teaching unions' ballots will have closed.

Referring back to the 9% reference from an earlier post, there's a reason why the remaining 91% of complainants remain .... Because they're unable to survive in the real world.*

There we have it. I thought you were trying to engage in the conversation about education and the problems facing schools.

But no. You just hate teachers. Got it.

This "real world" of which people like to speak...

... where is it? Because from where I'm sitting drinking from my militant, dying, weak, subscription collecting union mug, education is in the "real world" too.

O.K. perhaps I'll add an offer of G.C.S.E history for the Eff. As far as I know that includes some reference to trade union history (I home schooled in lockdown)

Failing that Eff. There is always the option of online tutoring (if you can afford it).

😬

Yes I do.

Please - for heavens sake - look at the reality. No Labour is not going to listen in a way that changes anything, they might nod along sweetly but have already ruled it out!!!

What part of no from Labour do you not understand?

WE. CAN. NOT. AFFORD. IT.

Says absolutely every politician of every colour.

Perhaps you're confusing this thread with another ?

The title of this one is ...

"Why are bloody teachers striking AGAIN?"

and each of my replies has remained focussed on the title.

You may be surprised to learn that I have plenty of friends and extended family members who are teachers and I completely agree with the majority of the comments and very valid points raised here about pay and conditions.

I don't think you read what I wrote! I said 'not the money, but possibly changes to workload'

I don't know why you're yelling at me as if I'm stupid.

Well, no. It's because upping sticks across the planet is fairly drastic.

Many teachers are the family's 'second salary' person, or they rely on extended family for childcare in term time, or they have caring responsibilities.

The UK teachers we are snapping up overseas are mostly 3 types:

1. ECTs - you know the ones who cost a fortune to train, then disappear after 3 years just as they're becoming an experienced asset? Those guys.
2. Teacher couples - live off one salary, save the other, cheap or free wraparound childcare. Amazing chances for career progression for both whereas in the UK, a teaching couple with dc almost invariably need one of them to go pt.
3. Experienced top of scale older teachers - you know, the ones you need to mentor the ECTs? Footloose & fancy free empty nesters enjoying a new lease of life.

There's nothing wrong with the 91% who stay.

But you can't have it both ways! If the 9% who fuck off were, as you imply, Miss Brodie's creme de la creme, then that would also be pretty shit, wouldn't it.

But we can afford HS2? Helping people with mortgages etc
Not funding education is an ideological choice.
If the government valued education they would find a way of funding it. They don't value education or educators so they choose not to fund it.

You may be surprised to learn that I have plenty of friends and extended family members who are teachers

I would be extremely surprised, given how rude you are about them. Not a great friend. Best hope they don’t read your posts about them.

Not yelling.
But I think you answered your own question?
😁

THIS IS YELLING

Totally behind the teachers. Can’t wait for the government to finally go post wrecking spree.

I'm not rude about any of them !

Back to thread topic?

Any news from the united front on how the strikes are going?

Where is this 'real world'?

I had a career before I taught. Many others did.

I was pampered in a private sector graduate job with excellent health insurance and I only had to network with other pampered PR professionals in their own swish offices all day long.

Is that 'the real world'?

Oh dear.

People saying we can't afford it:

I think where there is a will there's a way. I don't think we can afford not to pay teachers at a rate that keeps them in the profession.

If we want to have good quality teachers we have to give them good enough pay and conditions that they stay in teaching. The ever increasing vacancies shows we are not currently doing that.

No paper to write on?

Teachers' strikes: Worcester schools 'unable to afford exercise books' - BBC News

An AHT being given chance to put the teacher side on CH4 News.

I don't have a t.v. (we read books) can you post the link?

If you were pampered as you say, then I would suggest no, it's not.

The real world is one in which many people fight daily at all levels to keep their jobs and in which if their boss thinks employing someone else instead of them would increase turnover, then they're gone, just like that.

One in which freezing cold, or excessively hot and physically demanding conditions really take their toll.

One in which bullying, backstabbing and stitching people up is for many the only means of daily survival.

One in which the majority haven't had a pay rise at all for many, many years.

I fully understand how this world may seem somewhat surreal for those who sit drinking their freeze-dried coffee in their flowery Kath Kitson dress and sandals from the comfort of their warm staffroom whilst complaining about how their rejected 4.5% pay increase is less than the current rate of inflation.

The government could have afforded to invest in public services if it had borrowed when it could borrow at <2% over 30 years. They could have assumed that the payoff would be greater than the cost of borrowing but instead we had the “maxed out the credit card” bullshit … and now borrowing is a lot more expensive. So yes, it’s harder to see where the money comes from now thanks to the austerity ideologues. But what’s the choice?

"We can't afford it" is such a glib response.

It's about choice - a choice to line friends' pockets in a pandemic; a choice to not try to get back millions of pounds from fraud in lockdown; a choice to throw money away to Rwanda; a choice for Sunak to fly by helicopter when he could get a train and so on and on and on.

And this government is choosing to ignore schools crumbling, class sizes at unmanageable levels, behaviour at crisis point in many schools, SEND provision and mental health services entirely ravaged - and so on and on and on.

drinking their freeze-dried coffee in their flowery Kath Kitson dress and sandals from the comfort of their warm staffroom

Oh, you're a right laugh, aren't you? And it's Cath Kidston.