AIBU to feel that teachers shouldn't really be striking?

[Pinky1011]

They have 3 months PAID holidays only work 9-4pm, no dangerous or really bad working conditions, great job security, good pensions, They had pay rises last year up to 8%!!! I work in the private sector and haven't had a pay rise in almost 6 years! I just feel compared to alot of other professions, teachers have it quite good? I mean their starting salary is the same as a junior doctor. I get it inflation has wrecked everyone, but surely the issue should be getting inflation down? Not just demanding for more money, which by the way only fuels inflation further. AIBU to feel that teachers just don't know how good they have it compared to the rest of us?

Please don't put words in my mouth. I did not call anybody a "thicko".

I consider a 47k salary (adjusted for unpaid leave) approx 40k with unpaid leave to be a good one. This is achievable for a significant proportion of teachers in locations all across the country.

Foxy if you consider that teaching requires a postgraduate qualification, that it takes around a decade to reach the salary you quote and what teachers do all day for that money it doesn't seem quite as good a deal does it. As others have said, it doesn't actually matter what you think because enough people think that's a poor deal that they don't do it.

I really hope to god you’re not a teacher.

🫣

?? a number of previous posters stated that the 13 weeks school holidays are not all paid and that teachers have 5 weeks paid leave and 8 weeks unpaid. Apologies if I've misunderstood. I wouldn't personally call this working pattern part time (I did it myself last year, and would say I worked FT but had an additional 4 weeks unpaid that year).

I work in the public sector myself and am supportive of teachebrand their right to strike, but I think it is helpful to discuss the whole package incl. generous public sector pensions (which I also evidently benefit from!)

I consider a 47k salary (adjusted for unpaid leave) approx 40k with unpaid leave to be a good one.

And yet we can’t get people to be teachers. Explain that one.

Except it doesn’t require a postgrad qualification at all:

getintoteaching.education.gov.uk/what-is-a-pgce?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1fXXmL7e_AIVQdDtCh0AEAQ9EAAYAiAAEgLov_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Thank you

I have a PGCE (and a couple of other postgrad qualifications) and I earn about 3x that. In the private sector.

It’s not the only reason I left teaching, but if this government want to live in some individualistic, capitalist, free market utopia and they want good people in teaching then they need to pay them more. And fix a whole lot of stuff around culture and working conditions. But also, pay them more.

So do I.

And the 50-60hr pw is not representative of the teachers I know.

Unless they have additional responsibilities for which they get..:

…oh

extra pay.

I am paid £17 per hour for my time. NMW will be £10.42 per hour come April. My payslip claims my hourly rate is £25 though. My salary is £25k. If I worked the same hours at NMW, my salary would be £16,255.
My take home montly wage, based on those figures, is £1591, and on NMW I’d take home £1200, which includes the sliding scale pension payment I’d make if this NMW job was part of the same scheme.

I get £391 more than I would on NMW. I also lost out on 5 years earning while I trained to be a teacher.

Oh, and, on NMW I’d be entitled to £90/week towards childcare costs, and right now I get £0.

So actually, I’d be better off on NMW.

If I had another chance in life, I'd love to be a teacher for the primary kids in London as paid really well, rewarding and loads of hols.

As previously mentioned the shortages are typically across certain disciplines. Whenever it is suggested that some disciplines should be better compensated to attract and retain talent there is outrage.

Similarly location based pay. Whether a teaching role is considered to be well paid will often be down to location. Where I live it's a well paid profession, in most large cities across the country it is not (ditto nurses and a number of other public sector roles). Location based pay was raised by the tories and got shot down in flames. Without such an initiative there will always be shortages in some areas unfortunately.

I do think teachers work hard and it's not always 9-5. But there are also a lot of martyr teachers.

I agree.

As previously mentioned the shortages are typically across certain disciplines. Whenever it is suggested that some disciplines should be better compensated to attract and retain talent there is outrage.

Whenever it’s suggested that teachers are paid more to attract and retain talent, people roll out the ‘cushy’ job argument.

Now you concede that is not enough to attract and retain talent?

Those would be the ones marking and prepping after the 9-4. Would you like them to stop?

What am I conceding? I have never stated it's an easy job nor that they shouldn't be paid more to attract and retain talent.

I would strongly suggest that a blanket pay increase is both unnecessary and counterproductive. My feeling would be that targeted pay increases in certain disciplines and geographical areas would alleviate shortages somewhat. I suspect there would be no political appetite to broach it again, which is terrible news for our children. They deserve better.

I’ve been thinking about this and actually, I think teachers working to rule would be a good idea, to prove what we really do.

arrive at work 8:30am, set up for class, teach til 3. That’s 6.5 hours per day. 32.5 per week.

Im contracted for 35/week, so I do need to do my other 2.5 weekly hours. And I’ve got an hour long meeting once per week after school, so I’ve still got 1.5 hours left. I need to keep some of that, since approx once per month we have parents night for 3hours. Which leaves me 3 hours per month for planning and marking. I could probably run round quickly and mark the jotters while I am teaching, but I’m going to have to cancel my supported study. Oh and there is tracking to do as well? Oh the netball club is on? Sorry, no it isn’t. Oh, and your child will be exclusively working from textbooks, as I don’t have time to plan anything more engaging. And I’ll not be able to photocopy the homework sheets. Or mark the homework once it’s done. Oh, and don’t expect me to upload anything on Google classroom.

Working to rule only works if there is a rule though. And if I don't get my books marked in DT, which I won't, I'd sure as hell be disciplined for not doing in the "any other hours".

I believe Winedup is in Scotland where the contract does specify hours that could potentially be worked to.

England doesn't have a rule to work to, which is why work-to-rule here would be shite. And was shite when we did it in the Gove years. No one noticed.

@foxynoxy

I didn't 'put words in your mouth'. In fact, I explicitly used the verb 'imply' because I read between the lines of your condescending post saying that teachers get a good pay deal based on their qualifications, which they would not be able to command in other industries. I pointed out that many teachers, myself included, are over qualified and could choose to command higher salaries elsewhere. Would you prefer us to leave teaching and remove children's access to our knowledge and skills?

"What am I conceding? I have never stated it's an easy job nor that they shouldn't be paid more to attract and retain talent."

You have, in fact, said exactly this. You said that teachers get a decent salary given their level of skills, experience and qualifications. The inference to be drawn here is that the salary is adequate for the abilities of the teachers.

Perhaps you don't enjoy others pointing out the inconsistencies in your argument, but as I say to Y7, that seems to be a 'you' problem, not a 'me' problem.

I trained and lasted two years. I loved teaching but hated being a teacher. Regular 50+ hour weeks and the holidays are a fiction other than the 6 week holidays.

Now work in a public sector job loosely related to teaching, make more than I would as a teacher finish at 4.30 and don't take home any work or stress... I still have anxiety dreams about that time.

100% solidarity with teachers for demanding better. These disingenuous posts about "oh I just want to understand what's so bad 13 weeks holiday!" are grim and goady.

I don’t know…. A friend of mine left her TA role in our school to begin teacher training in a local primary school in quite a deprived area.
She dropped out because she hadn’t anticipated being abused (verbally & physically) by primary school aged children and called a cunt.

You say you don’t consider it part-time, but continually bang on about pro-rated and adjusted pay. Teachers work full-time through longer working weeks.