to ask WHY in the name of Gove are teachers striking again?

[loftyclopflop]

DD's school is closing on 1st October because they have chosen to strike. Is it over pay, pensions and conditions? Did they achieve anything by striking a couple of years ago other than massively inconveniencing a lot of parents?

I know Gove is a twat but do they really expect to change anything by taking the day off?

Like I said, my education was fucked up by the strikes of the 80s. I will never forgive the teachers who stuffed my chances up.

I am deeply grateful to those teachers who put me and my classmates first. I can only hope my DC encounter people like them. I have several teachers and ex-teachers in my immediate circle of family and friends and am fed-up with the constant moaning among some of them. They hate their profession.

And - you know what? Life is hard, I know no one who hasn't now got worries about their dwindling/non-existent pensions and unpaid overtime.

mirry2 Its not as clear cut as SMP for example in which you know the weeks after week 39 are unpaid. The pay is split up so you are paid in 12 equal instalments as others have mentioned. I have also noticed that teachers don't understand their pay and haven't realised some of their holidays are unpaid.

Personally I support the teachers in striking, they aren't child care but in some cases are being used as such. If people don't want their children educated but want a babysitter, school is not the place for them.

So outtolunch what you are saying is that teachers are part time workers?

Well in a way in that their contract is not for the standard 52*35 hours a year inclusive of holiday , however if you want chapter and verse you need to read the Burgundy book which covers teachers hours and terms and conditions .

Their contract is for a whole year it is the spread of hours which makes it more complicated , plus contractually their five weeks holiday has to be taken in school holidays.

so I suppose teachers can take on other paid work in the holidays in order to supplement their income? Or is that forbidden in their contract?

I think that this is very strange and may be why people are critical of teachers. If the contract was changed so that payment wasn't spread over 12 months it might change people's attitudes. At the moment the perception is that teachers get paid for doing nothing in the holidays.
I think there needs to be a public relations exercise to alter perceptions.

If teachers are not paid for their holidays then their annual salary pro rata is higher than it officially is published. So a teacher on £30000 is really on so something like £32000-£33000 pro rata.
This does not make people empathise anymore. And if this is he case how do they get away with doing things like starting maternity leave officially in first week September and getting paid all over the holidays then coming back to work a week before the summer starts again and getting paid full time over the holidays once more. I know quite a few people who have done this. One even came back "full time" just before summer started, got paid full time over the summer and then dropped to part time once the September term started .
Don't get me wrong, in her position most would do the same but it seems the system is open to exploitation.

Teachers often take on other paid work, exam marking and tutoring are common.

I don't know anyone who takes a specific holiday job though. They tend to be taken by university students who have much longer holidays.

One even came back "full time" just before summer started, got paid full time over the summer and then dropped to part time once the September term started

I did that. I was actually told to by my school! But I don't see why teachers shouldn't when we don't accrue annual leave while on maternity leave. Other people are able to tack annual leave onto the end of their maternity leave to make it longer. Teachers can't do that.

Schools across Western Australia are striking tomorrow but its because the government want to cut EA jobs and other support staff. Are school alone are loosing$160,000 at least next year. There will be limited staff at school for those who need it but many parents are in support and keeping there children off.

Nobelgiraffe it all seems smoke and mirrors to me and you will never get everyone on your side while we don't understand the terms of your contract in respect of working hours.

Mirry, I wouldn't expect you to necessarily understand my pay and conditions in detail. But it should be easy to see that crappier pay and conditions don't equal better quality teachers and therefore a better education for your (I'm assuming here) children.

Crappier pay and pensions means that the better qualified will seek employment elsewhere (I turned down a job in banking to be a teacher, and I understand they are still getting bonuses )
Crappier conditions means that teachers won't be able to do as good a job. If I'm photocopying exam papers, I'm not marking or creating resources or running a club or exam revision session. If I don't have PPA I'm going to be planning less and teaching more.

But it's not just about that. With the cuts there are fewer teachers. My school has lost TAs and my department has lost a maths teacher. So we have bigger classes and less support. That's not good for the kids.

With Gove's incessant meddling in the curriculum, kids don't know whether they are coming or going, they are having exams scrapped that they have already sat, they are being told their qualifications are shit while they are still working towards them, teachers are wasting valuable time trying to get their head around potential changes, which then keep changing (see my thread in secondary education on the new GCSEs and A-levels, which are the replacement for the Gove-levels idea of last year). Teachers are used to change, but this is fucking ridiculous.

Can't you get behind that?

nobelgiraffe I understand what you are saying. I also work in the education sector but my point is that the public perception of teachers is that they work short hours, have long holidays and take home a good salary and final salary pension. Unless the teaching union does something to change Joe Public's view you won't get their support.

I agree with teachers being able to strike if needs be.

If the pay and working conditions are acceptable then more of the best people will be attracted into the teaching profession, which benefits everyone.

I'm not striking because I don't think I'm paid enough, I'm striking (or I would be if I were not on the unpaid section of mat leave!) because Gove and this government are a nightmare and their policies are damaging the education of a generation of children.

If a strike means that these issues get a wider airing among parents, then that's positive. Parents should be bloody furious.

The 10 points I made upthread are from a leaflet produced by my union to give to others to inform them as to why we are striking. Pay and conditions are only a part of it.

I would like the public to stop bleating 'gold-plated pensions' like the DM would have them do and actually take a closer look at what is going on.

You don't get paid for being strike, it's not a jolly.

LifeofPo Are you a teacher?

Because they are overworked, tasked with huge amounts paperwork to support the latest govt gimmick that has FA to do with educating children, get little support from parents (cite this thread as an example) and have had their pay eroded massively over the last 10 years in real terms.

Yes it's inconvenient for me as a parent, but I want teachers to feel valued, respected and remunerated as professionals.

I don't blame them for taking action - I blame Gove for leaving them with no other alternative.

Good luck to them and massive respect. It's not a job I could do.

Lifeofpo it's just if you had been a teacher I wouldn't have expected you to use the word cunt.

I know loads and I've never heard them use language like that.

I've known a few that could give Malcolm Tucker a run for his money. Not in the classroom of course though

So teachers aren't allowed curse now? What a load of fucking nonsense.