AIBU teachers deserve a massive pay rise!

[GinDrinker00]

Week two into home schooling and I already want to open the gin before midday!
Eldest DC has autism and ADHD and is a struggle to motivate on a normal school day let alone at home. Lots of refusing to do work to the point the head is now ringing every week to help advise.
How do teachers and TAs cope? You all deserve a MASSIVE pay rise!

There is a large variation at the moment with some schools setting and marking work, whilst others set work but don't mark it, and a few not even setting work. Schools are supposed to be open for key workers and vulnerable children yet many are completely closed to all. My dfs has special needs so education plan, and has a social worker. He attends a special school so definately in category supposed to attend school yet his special school is closed as teachers are afraid they will catch it if they go to work. The head teacher has decided she cannot ask staff to attend school as it may put them at risk, so therefore vulnerable children and some children of NHS staff cannot attend. Nurse has to stay home with her sn child as he can't go to mainstream school and his special school refusing to open. Teachers are paid ok but teaching assistants are not. I am a fomer Teacher/HoD who left profession to retire early. I agree teachers often supply there own board markers, pens and I bought my class mini white boards and scissors.

@Matildatoldsuchdreadfullies

As a teacher I absolutely don’t think we should get a big pay rise. Many people have/will lost jobs. We won’t. That puts us in the fortunate category.
Well said.

I’m in Ireland and in 3 weeks of lockdown we’ve had 2 vids and 2 worksheets from DS’s teacher, so not wildly impressed with that, no.

Yes they should , 100%x

OP I am a secondary school teacher. I am really good at my job and my classes get excellent exam results. (I am working hard at the moment to provide my pupils with appropriate work, help them and give them feedback.) However, my own DC who both study my subject at GCSE and ALevel have completely rejected my offers to help them with their work as I 'don't understand' what they have to do. So I really do sympathise with parents tryng to motivate their children at home.

"As a teacher I absolutely don’t think we should get a big pay rise. Many people have/will lost jobs. We won’t. That puts us in the fortunate category."

^This

Doesn't mean teachers aren't great

But^ nobody will be getting a "huge payrise" for years;
most will be very lucky to keep current job with same pay

I expect even NHS staff won't be getting a big rise

There'll be no pay rises after all this is over. In fact, there'll have to be tax/NIC rises to pay for hundreds of billions of debt we'll have taken on to keep things going. Anyone expecting to be better off in the next decade is deluded I'm afraid.

Are you going to give massive rises to postmen, binmen, milkmen, retail assistants , everyone involved in food supply and distribution, DWP, and Council Benefit departments too? They have all done their same job but with increased volumes of it too.

I do really appreciate all key workers but, let's face it, most people would carry on doing their jobs if they could.

I think teachers and their TAs and any key workers who have put in extra hours to keep the country running deserve a bonus for doing so. However, I'd like to think they do what they have done out of a wish to give to society.

I would not want to go back to school knowing that the parents of my pupils may have lost jobs and income and be struggling as a result of this crisis and then flaunt a pay rise in their face. That would be shocking. I am grateful for my secure job, especially as self-employed DH is likely to lose a lot of his income this year but if there are any pay rises going I think they should to to those more in need than teachers.

They cope because they have training, resources and experience to help. It’s not an easy job and they get trained how to cope as best they can.you haven’t had to same training, expert once or support so it’s a learning curve.

None of my children's teachers are providing the resources needed for them to do constructive learning for even an hour each day.

On top of working a full time job at home, I'm also trying to plan active learning for my children whilst also keeping them from underneath my husband's feet because he's also working from home but as live support for customers so cannot help the children.

The last 2 weeks hasn't made me more appreciative of the teachers, it has made me far appreciative of how adaptable and resilient my children are...but I can't give them a pay rise. I can't even afford to give them pocket money!

I think anyone seeing out the year on equal salary to the one they started 2020 on should consider themselves lucky, teachers included.

I've always thought us teachers are quite well paid, by which I mean my family can live on my salary alone, for which I'm very grateful. Yes, it would be nice not to have pay freezes and pay increases that are actually paid by the Government and not supposed to be topped up by cash-strapped schools. But generally, the money is enough.

However, I do wish there wasn't the expectations that make the job itself unmanageable: marking work in different-coloured pens, producing reams of plans, evidencing all practical lessons by sticking in photographs and annotating, writing down all feedback given to pupils even if it's given verbally, constantly changing goalposts regarding what we're supposed to be teaching, adding in new things to squeeze into the curriculum time, teaching to assessments so the focus is all on English and maths and the foundation subjects are sidelined...

There is much wrong with our education system. I don't think the pay is part of it.

(But thank you anyway, OP, for starting a nice thread about teachers!)

And I know teachers who earn more than the NHS employees currently battling to save all of us in this pandemic. Swings and round @OnlyFoolsnMothers I still feel the wage they earn is fair and appropriate.

Thank you OP. Like others though, I think the pay is the least of our worries - as long as we don't see cuts via tax rises etc.

To the posters who have schools not setting work - they will be following union guidelines! My school and my son's school seem to be ignoring this advice.

DS is Year 11 and has been set enrichment lessons for chosen A Levels to complete. I have also had phone calls from school to see how he is coping and if we are all ok.

My school are also calling pupils to see how they are and setting work. I am probably working solidly for three hours a day teaching online and the rest of the time marking and doing prep. Trying to set lessons that the pupils will enjoy and won't need much parental input. I am also putting cheerful messages on my marking and am receiving many back. I email my tutor group every few days to see how they are coping.

I think it's a real shame that all schools are not doing this so that pupils know that they are cared for by schools.

Thank you for the sentiment, OP 😊

As a secondary school teacher, I don’t want a pay rise. Instead, can we please have adequate funding in state schools, so that I can stop spending £60 minimum per year on basic stationery for my students?

Also, if everybody could stop assuming that we are lazy dickheads, that would be great 👍🏻

I’ve seen quite a few posts saying things like, ‘None of the teachers I know are working at the moment’. The teachers might not be in school, but they’re almost certainly working (unless it’s their Easter holiday, in which case, they shouldn’t have to work). I’m a secondary teacher trying to make sure my own children are safe, occupied and learning. I’m also marking students’ work, emailing them to check that they’re OK and responding to questions, setting home learning tasks and sorting out data. I’m not in school most days, but I’m definitely working when I can.

Agree with PPs that I’m very lucky to be in a secure, paid job and that I’d rather education was properly funded than get a pay rise - although both would be just lovely!

Well, you may have seen a few posts saying that none of the teachers they know are not working because some of the teachers they know are not working!!
My two best friends are both teachers (different schools) and neither of them are working. At all. One is a Deputy Head the other an Assistant Head. Both of their schools made it as difficult as possible for keyworkers to send in their children from the get go. Restricted it to certain hours for certain year groups. So Year 5s could go in from 10-11am, Year 6s 11-12pm etc. So of no real use to parents who needed to access it.
I lost a bit of respect for them both to be honest.

I'm a teacher and definitely don't feel a pay rise is needed. Yes many of us are still working in one way or the other but no more than a lot of other jobs.
We also have job security after all this, my husband has been furloughed BUT also after all this may end up redundant if the work afterwards doesn't pick up.

What would be good for schools and pupils after this is over:

Proper funding for ALL schools would be a start.

SEND resources to properly accessible for all pupils and parents.

The governments expectations on pupils to be adjusted and in line with what is developmental appropriate for them especially in the younger years.

And on a personal level to feel appreciated by parents and the public, rather than be constantly pulled apart and told we aren't good enough or need to do more.

I think it all highlights the fundamental problem with UK state education - that of a complete lack of consistency. Different schools doing different things, different teachers within the same school doing different things. Some excellent, some dire. That's the inherent problem and has been for decades - it's all so fragmented with what looks like incredibly poor overall control & management.

Where would the money come from for a huge pay rise? This country is going to be in a dreadful financial state for years.

Nope. The people I think who should be getting a wage increase or huge bonus are all the supermarket workers still turning up to work without protection whilst the supermarket bosses rake in billions. Oh and the NHS frontline staff should get huge bonuses too - also paid from the huge profits made by the supermarkets.

Like others have mentioned, I am getting extremely frustrated with the lack of resources that are being sent home from the school. Even working from home whilst looking after their own children, I don't feel it is too much to expect that Teacher's are setting enough work to occupy children for an hour or so each day. A phone call or direct email from them would also be appreciated. They are being paid full wage throughout this crisis and many seem to be doing very little work at all. Where as the rest of us are having to juggle working from home and home schooling our children with minimal support.

Teachers are wonderful, but it would be absolutely the same if you were dropped into any job without training and expected to do it.

Teachers are fab and I do think the starting salary is too low for the workload and responsibility. Im an ex teacher (haven't taught for many years), but imo it's almost harder to teach your own child/children than a class of unrelated children.

Yes they do deserve better pay, as do TA's.

And while we're at it, early years practitioners deserve more too! Most earn minimum wage or just above, even in senior roles. Many are still working through this, putting themselves and their families at risk to care for key workers children. They can't even practice social distancing because it's impossible with babies and young children!