Govt planning to screw over teachers again

[noblegiraffe]

The government have recommended to the independent pay review body (late, they missed the deadline) that teacher pay rises should be 'more sustainable' this year. They haven't suggested a figure but looking at budget this would be 1-2% (i.e. another below inflation pay-cut.)

In the meantime, their commitment to reduce teacher working hours by 5 hours per week has been a complete failure as teacher working hours have actually increased in the last year:

"The latest wave of the working lives of teachers and leaders survey shows full-time leaders’ average working week in 2023 was 58.2 hours – over 11 hours a day – up from 57.5 in 2022.
The survey polled more than 10,000 workers, and found full-time teachers’ average hours were 52.4 per week, up from 51.9 in 2022......Teachers and leaders’ job satisfaction has also plummeted. Only 46 per cent were satisfied “most of the time”, compared to 58 per cent last year.

At the same time, the number of teachers quitting is increasing, and recruitment is becoming an even bigger issue due to the lack of people starting a PGCE last September who should now be applying for jobs.

The government gearing up for another war with teachers is clearly something they see as a vote-winner in an election year.

However, many voters are parents and can see the impact of the state of education on their children's experience at school.

NEU and NASUWT are currently consulting members to see if they want another ballot for strike action.

https://schoolsweek.co.uk/keegan-calls-for-return-to-more-sustainable-teacher-pay-rises/
https://schoolsweek.co.uk/heads-and-teachers-working-longer-despite-workload-push/

My rep told us this today and I couldn't believe it. After all we went through last year and they offer 1% after apparently promising it would be in line with inflation! The job gets harder every day and this is just a massive smack in the face.

Really?! You got a 6.5% increase last year!

Food inflation was 19% for months and is now still rising at 4%...Below inflation rises are pay cuts. And that's before you consider that teachers' pay was frozen for around a decade - throughout the majority of my career.

And we only managed to recruit half the number of trainees required for secondary, so you know, it's clearly not good enough.

Unless you don't mind your child not having a teacher? Lots of kids don't have a teacher right now. Parents at my school are certainly starting to notice and complain...not a lot we can do about it though.

You got 5% in 2022, 6.5% last year. It’s just greed at this point. DH works in another public service and hasn’t had an increase anything like that.

Where do you think all this money is coming from?

Not greed, just wanting fair recompense for a highly skilled job. If I was working in Scotland I'd earn an extra ten thousand for the same job.

When your kids don't have teachers, let alone really good, experienced teachers, you may then think we are worth it.

@JackSleepskin There's plenty of money been siphoned off for dodgy PPI contracts, land deals, expenses for MPs. When did we decide it wasn't acceptable to pay people properly who deliver a valuable public service?

Also, your husband should think about bettering his own situation rather than resenting others - it's not a race to the bottom. Open your eyes and look at how much public money is being lost to corruption. The money's there; in all cases of public sector strikes in the past year, the government have spent more on a war with the striking staff than it would have been to just pay what was requested in the first place. The government are refusing to negotiate to make the teaching unions like like the bad guys - in every case, they've wanted to avoid strike action.

I see, so you're happy for your child not to have a teacher.

Others aren't.

But you probably wouldn't have a job..... Teachers in Scotland can't get jobs (Council squeeze). Councils in England can't recruit/retain teachers (crap salary).

There will be no teachers at least no good ones anyway. I left nearly four years ago. It’s a shockingly bad career choice these days

I want my kids to have teachers. Mine gets a secondary school place tomorrow. My main question when looking round was "are you fully staffed" most weren't. They can't recruit.

Do you work @JackSleepskin , or do you live to speak for your dh?

DS is in primary. His teacher is 22 and graduated last summer from Roehampton. She’s perfectly fine at her job but she’s no Oxford biochemistry graduate. Making out that teachers are somehow these deeply academically gifted martyrs that could be earning 6 figures in the city is really just a bit ridiculous.

Just remind me when someone forced you to take the job?

What job does your DH do Jack? Is pretty shit if he's not had payrises

I have a full time job. Didn’t get a 6.5% raise last year either. Not in the public sector though.

Nowhere did I say he didn’t get a raise. Only that it wasn’t near 6.5% last year and 5% the year before.

Always amazes me how teachers are the most overworked profession in the land and yet they have so much time for whinging on mumsnet.

No-one forced my DD and her partner to become teachers, back before things got grim in the profession. No-one forcing them to stay either, so they're both planning to leave the profession by the end of this year.
They also both work in a particular shortage area of the profession.

They're not going to earn a fortune in the city. They'll almost certainly take a wage drop. But it will be worth it to keep their mental health.

I'm very highly skilled thanks. What job do you do?

Making out that teachers are somehow these deeply academically gifted martyrs that could be earning 6 figures in the city is really just a bit ridiculous.

Not sure anyone has said this....

Most teachers I know left teaching for less money, but still left because it was so shit. Insulting those still teaching is a sure fire way to retain teachers.... Do you work for the DfE?

I am fully pissed off at the turnover of teachers at my youngest DD’s school, so with that in mind I want it to be more incentivised.

But, actually, other than career progression through promotion I haven’t haven’t had a pay rise in years. Why so teachers expect this every year?

It's nearly 11pm. I can guarantee that some teachers are still working, but I don't think that you can criticise those who've stopped for the night and checked in here.

Why do you think people in other professions aren’t still working?

At no point in this thread has anyone said teachers are the most overworked. The data simply said how many hours they work on average. I think you'll find it's you whinging.