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.

But why did you do it for more than ten months when schools weren’t “closed” for that long. I was certainly in school every day as were my colleagues (apart from a few told to isolate by their doctors due to medical conditions).

We had parents who withdrew their children long before lockdowns and refused to return them after full opening - were you one of those parents? Because you certainly can’t blame the teachers or unions for YOUR decision in that case.

School pay DOES need to be increased the independent pay review body says it needs to be increased. Any increase needs to be FUNDED not paid for by not giving our children the resources to learn. I have colleagues who receive income support because of how low salaries are. Some teachers earn good money but that is after years of teaching and now schools are having to lay them off because we don’t get enough funding to provide a qualified teacher for every class!

So few morals we're losing £££ in an attempt to force the government to fund the future of education...

Assuming you don't have kids in schools, otherwise you'd realise the impact of a few strike days is nothing compared to week upon week of cover lessons from a non specialist. This is the situation thousands of children a week find themselves in.

If you were striking for more books or more funds for pencils that would be considered ethically acceptable and you would have support, but you are striking for more money purely for yourselves and dressing it up to be ‘for the future of schools’ what a joke! Do you really think anyone falls for that claptrap!

If you were striking for more books or more funds for pencils that would be considered ethically acceptable

Do you understand what striking for a fully funded pay rise actually means? It means more books and more funds for pencils.

We absolutely are looking to fund the future. We want teaching to be an attractive profession to graduates, we want children to receive the best education possible in buildings that are fit for purpose. We want children with mental health issues supported properly by external agencies, we want children with SEND to get the support they require to access the curriculum.

7 strike days harm children a lot less than the current state of education.

Mentioning no names, but, fuck me, there's some bollocks being written on here.

I'm putting myself in detention where it will be quiet and I can pretend the world is entirely sane for a spell.

@noblegiraffe Thanks for your threads.

If you were striking for more books or more funds for pencils that would be considered ethically acceptable and you would have support

An unfunded pay rise comes from the money pot that would pay for the pencils.

Tell that to the child self harming or struggling. Or the children with a long summer of abuse at home.

Or the children with a long summer of abuse at home.

How are you planning on pinning the blame for that on teachers?

There is ZERO public support for this strike.

Tell that to the 100+ beeps of support we had in the picket.

Tell that to the child self harming or struggling

I do. I tell them they deserve better from the government. They deserve CAHMS support, they deserve someone to talk to.

I am not a teacher, but I don't they are allowed strike for things like that.

It is the underlying reason as to why they are striking, if you even read the OP you would see that.

I mean, there's plenty of support for teachers even on this thread. 🤷‍♀️

Sigh. I feel like I've got back 3 years.

Every teacher I know wanted schools open, they simply wanted safety measure in place and for the government to acknowledge children could spread COVID as they spent many months denied children could spread it. This was to keep families and communities safe.

I think it is safe to say that the teaching unions were very much in favour of closing schools during Covid.

amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/02/government-faces-major-revolt-on-schools-reopening-in-england-over-covid-fears

NAHT legal action against schools reopening

news.sky.com/story/amp/teaching-unions-tell-pm-do-your-duty-and-close-all-schools-in-england-to-limit-covid-threat-12177145

www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1379037/teacher-unions-england-schools-two-more-week-government/amp

Unions pressing for school closures

I 100% support the strikes. All children deserve a well funded education taught by happy, motivated teachers. They deserve to learn in properly funded, fit for purpose classrooms with properly funded, engaging resources.
As tax payers why are we accepting less than this? It says more about the general public than it does about teachers that 100% of taxpayers aren't standing behind teachers to support them in their strikes.

@Hercisback

"Teaching unions had no influence over schools closing"

+++

The teaching unions pressed for school closures and even threatened legal action to stop them reopening.

amp.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/02/government-faces-major-revolt-on-schools-reopening-in-england-over-covid-fears

The people who understand that we can only strike about pay know that our strikes are because we're desperate to improve education in this country.

If you don't believe it that's your choice, but I'm actually living it so I know what I'm talking about.

I totally agree but that still doesn't answer the question of where the money is going to come from.

Plus raising wages in either the private or public sector will mean inflation will stay high and with that interest rates.

And the government then decided after 1 day back at school that actually they should close to all but vulnerable, key worker and EHCP pupils.

So the unions were right in this instant and had they been listened to, schools wouldn't have opened for a day before having an emergency closure that made it almost impossible for schools and parents to prepare for.

I hate the way teacher are attacked. The bloody government threw kids and teachers under the bus during covid and even now they don't care about our kids education. Teachers are having to fight for the basic things.
I am fully with all the teachers who are striking. I qualified as a teacher in 2005 and left after 3 years as it was bad even then.

All of which, as I said, is beside the point.

The pandemic was a scary time. Government messaging was all over the place and causing widespread fear.

Vulnerable teachers were being encouraged to shield by their GP.

There was no proper ventilation in most schools.

The union's job was to protect the teachers. They did what they thought was right given the risk we kept being told was very, very serious.

Maybe they were wrong. All anyone did during that time was disagree. Parents, teachers, ministers, scientists...

Who is not to blame for any of that are individual teachers who were navigating it all and doing their best - just like everyone else in an uncertain time.

Saying 'the unions pushed for closures and that is why we don't support them now' is a ridiculous stance. Apart from anything, it suggests that Government guidance (which was changing 3 times a week at one point) was in any way influenced by the self same unions they totally refuse to speak to now.

Stop blaming teachers for the shit show of pandemic management. It's not fair or right.

Hmm. That’s a LOT of swift deletions.

Yes, again with the why? You didn’t have to. That was entirely your choice.