to ask if you agree with the teacher's strike upcoming

[AuntiePickleBottom]

i am on the fence about it, due to not understanding pensions.

mdowdall; actually yes. this month I have had to borrow from my parents to see us through until I get paid. Just because I am a teacher doesn't mean I have millions in the bank! I have the same costs as everyone else and as DH is self employed, we depend on my salary.

We took a decision when I started teaching that it was worth the amount I would pay in to the pension fund for a light at the end of the tunnel for us both when we retire.

but aside from that; you never answered my questions about your statement that 'anyone can teach GCSE and A Level.....'

I am not living in poverty but I struggle on a teachers wage. We have one child as until very recently we could not afford a second. I eat a big meal at school in return for a duty so I can save on food bills. We cannot afford to buy a house. As I said I am not in poverty but as it is for most people money is tight. I certainly do not feel like a huge earner.

The trouble with this strike, is that the strikers aren't acknowledging that conditions change over time. That's the risk we all take in our careers.

The country is in a real financial mess and we are not out of the woods. We are all having to tighten our belts. Why should teachers not feel the pinch, frankly? Why should they be immune?

but Riveninside was your DH offered a pension and not taken it? Did he take on 50 years of research thinking he was going to get the pension that he paid into and then taken away from him?

The average teacher pension is £10K, I will not even get this. My retirement will not be a comfortable one as I will be paying rent.

I found out yesterday by letter that the school is closed on Thursday for the strike and Monday for a day in leiu (wedding) so thats 5 days notice . Our school is also the polling station so its shut on them days as well

Cricket - home educators manage to teach gcse and A levels. Study after study shows home educated children are ahead of school aged peers. So yes, lots of people can teach to that level.
Friend of mine has 12 kids she has home edded. 5 are at university now. I am a wimp, i only did 3.

And teachers wages are above average, so think how the majority of the population earning less must be struggling and then explain why they should then pay more in taxes to fund your pensions?

I think most teachers do acknowledge that conditions change and that cuts have to be made, but not at this level.

oh; didn't realise that if you can teach one child at a time on a one-to-one level that makes you an expert about teaching 30 kids at the same time (especially those who don't want to be there)

I deliberately made it clear that I was not in poverty, however I am not living the life of luxury that people are painting. I am certainly poorer than most people I know with my qualifications.

Feenie / Pyjama
OK I stand corrected. I'm a beancounter not a teacher after all.
Steps are clearly being taken to sort out the mess of the cohort of underqualified teachers. Good. About time too.

It still does not make me support the strike because if the teachers win, their children will lose.
There is only so much money to go round.
My mortgage finishes in three years - before my kids leave school. How many people in their 20's and 30's can now say that?
The property drawbridge has been pulled up.

Lets not pull up the income one too.

So maybe they should all stay at home and be prepared for their A-LEVELS by their parents-you make me laugh!

Since when did you need to be "highly qualified". You need a degree in BEd and a year in a school or a PGCE and a year in school.

He paid into a private pension for ten years which under performed. I do t undertsand pensions. So he was told he would need to put hundreds in to make it up. We dont have hundreds so we had to leave it. It was done via his company and they took a large chunk of his salary. I dont know where it gone or how to get back what he paid. Seems like its just fucked.
We will rely on income support when we get old.

You could always try being librarians. A degree, a one-year on-the-job traineeship, a masters degree and, if you want to prove you are a committed professional and make yourself more employable, you can spend 2 years post-qualification working towards chartership in your spare time and then undertake revalidation every few years.
Average salary £20-£25K.

Anyone interested?

I think teachers should be highly qualified.

Never said home edding makes you an expert on thirty kids only answering your statement that you didnt think anyone except a teacher could teach to A level. It wasnt true.

FFS, you're being asked to work slightly longer, not take a massive drop in pension. The teachers pension is still fabulous. You will then get the state pension on top of that. The majority of private sector workers will have to survive on the state pension alone!!!!!!!

I was just thinking to myself that the only person I know who I graduated with who has a similar standard of living as myself is a librarian.

Id love to see that jonnyfan. I loved home edding.

trouble with that though MummyTubb - I couldn't go through the day whispering!

Riveninside

Ah yes - defined contribution pensions
You know how much you but in but have NO IDEA whether anything will come out.
For all you teachers out there - that is what the private sector now offers. And a stock market collapse can leave you with no pension at all even though you paid in .....

We are being asked to take a dip in pension, in return for paying more and claiming it later - at an age when many of us will be dead.

Its a bit depressing talkinpeace. He woukd have been better to put the money he paid all those years into a sock hnder the bed. Least we would hav e that. Same for his collegues though.