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?

Teachers worked insanely hard through covid.
They were both live-streaming and teaching the vulnerable/key worker kids who had to be in school. Any who weren’t working for furloughed like everyone else.

You've sold it to me op, where do I sign up for this teaching malarkey?

@Pinky1011 why don’t you become a teacher then? There are lots of vacancies.

Lol at teachers working 9-4 - how does that work then? Our kids start at 8.30am, not to mention early morning clubs, breakfast club etc. You didn't mention breaks either - not being able to go to the toilet when you want, having barely any time to shovel some lunch into your mouth.

I actually think parents should be striking. I think they should be marching on parliament in great numbers demanding better education for their children. I cant believe how passive everyone is about education funding and how they have left the whole thing to teachers to sort by striking about pay which is pretty much the only thing they can legally strike about. I think the current cohort of children are going to be a bit pissed of with their lot and think 'and then after i had two disrupted years from covid, you were content with no decent catch up plan and for no qualified teachers available anymore as they left'

It's interesting, isn't it how most people think the strikes are all about pay. Pay is part of it, but mainly it's about conditions in schools.
Schools have picked up a lot of responsibility for safeguarding.
Teachers are providing breakfast for children who otherwise wouldn't have any.
Teachers are providing pastoral support for children who have significant additional needs that they cannot manage to engage in classroom activities.
Class teachers are trying to meet the needs of children who need a 1:1 to access education but don't have this provision whilst trying to meet the needs of another 30 children.

Newly qualified teachers are entering the class room and leaving in drives 12% leave within a year of qualifying)
Supply teachers are almost impossible to recruit resulting in lost PPA time, heads covering lessons long term ...
Where teachers have received pay rises it has come out of existing school budgets so whilst you get more money, you also have to buy more resources yourself because there is less money in the resources budget, and school can no longer afford your TA because you had a pay rise

I know no good teachers who work 9-4. If they leave at 4, they will have been in by 7 and often do more in the evening (obviously there are feckless teachers who turn up, teach the lesson they planned years ago, don't adjust it for the needs of the class and waltz off again at the end of the day to weigh essays and grade accordingly, but these aren't really the people parents want their kids taught by)

These are some of the reasons teachers are striking. A pay increase goes someway towards attracting and retaining high quality candidates but it is a small part of the picture.

Dd talked about teaching.
I did everything possible to put her off and she didn’t become a teacher ( I’ve never been a teacher either ) and for a few years she would rant at me when her job wasn’t going how she wanted.

Now she is so pleased that she didn’t go into teaching, it’s really a thankless task.

Imo teachers should work to rule.
Do 9 until 5 and no more. Parents who are worried about their dc’s education need to lobby the government.
However as most of the Tory government dc will be at private schools they won’t give a jot.

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.

So should teachers ask the government politely to please work on reducing inflation? Do you think they'll listen? Don't be ridiculous.

There is still an issue that ALL public sector workers have had a huge salary reduction. The govt need to address it.

If your salary was worth 75% of what you trained, qualified and signed up for 10 years ago, would you feel that was fair?

Would accept a £50k pay loss over 10 years?

Teachers don't want a pay 'rise'. It's reinstatement of wages the strike is about. Terms & conditions are part of broader action ASOSA.

This

OP would you like to explain how paying public sector workers properly fuels inflation? I'm all ears.

Ooooook where to start.... 😄

• Our leave is unpaid, our salary is for days worked and then split across the year

• I work in special education and I can guarantee you, it is dangerous at times. It was also dangerous when I worked in mainstream, especially during COVID.

• Completely understand where you're coming from re the pay rise last year, as you know though, you just don't see it in your salary. Mine has been absorbed by higher pension and student loan, it probably works out £50 more per month.

• The government are making education a

really unpleasant place to work right now, coupled with a huge rise in behavioural/social communication issues after the children were stuck at home for the best part of two years, in some schools the expected outcomes are genuinely impossible to achieve.

There's so much more I can say but I suspect it'll fall onto deaf ears, there is a real narrative forming against teachers and it's boring now. If there's no teachers left, who is going to provide the childcare for your little ones while you plod off to your private sec job? If nothing else, let that thought settle. Also, if there's no teachers, how are your children going to survive in the adult world without an education? Once the experienced teachers are gone, they're gone, and trust me as someone working in management it's becoming harder and harder to replace them.

I used to be a teacher. When I left and went into the private sector my pay almost doubled and my workload and responsibility dropped hugely. Over time my workload and responsibilities crept up as I got more senior and now I work similar hours to when I was a NQT, but I get paid 6 figures and have the possibility of carrying on increasing my earning potential. I’m also treated like an adult with autonomy and trusted to do my job and to make decisions, which is quite rare in schools. My office isn’t falling apart, I have heating where I work (my classroom didn’t have any), and I haven’t had to break up a fight in years.

The holidays were brilliant though. In many ways it was a great job, it was fun and rewarding and the kids were great. But let’s not pretend the pay and conditions are similar to the private sector for people who work similarly hard and have similar responsibility.

If you are in the private sector and being underpaid for your experience and responsibility, get another job. That’s not really an option as a teacher.

Great post 👏

@Pinky1011 Watch this - Mr P sims it up perfectly.

www.tiktok.com/@ict_mrp/video/7189691074690977029?_t=8Z6xUNcxALV&_r=1

I am in my classroom from 7.30-5.30 most days, occasionally I leave at 5, and I have it good compared to many of my colleagues who have more marking to do than me. I also get my wages topped up by universal credit, as the government acknowledges that I do not earn enough to live on. If my wage was a bit higher I could do away with the extra government support.

A quick Google would have saved you from such an embarrassing lie about starting salaries being the same as doctors.

If you are so jealous of teachers' pay and conditions, I suggest you join up. If you already have a degree, you only need to do one years training and then you'll be earning as much as a doctor. 😂

Good old race to the bottom

as someone said
Yawn

Your ignorance shows no bounds. If everyone was like you we would have no healthy work life balance.

YABU. Teaching is a very hard job. But only for the types of people who became teachers. What I mean by that is it’s relative. Most of the people I know who become teachers weren’t exactly the most robust individuals, which is why they became teachers, and not firefighters or oil rig workers, for example. The well known saying ‘those that can, do. Those that can’t, teach’ became well known for a reason. That mindset partly explains their poor response during COVID, compared to, say, the people working in Tesco.

I have three friends who have retrained to become teachers in the last 10 years, in inner city comprehensives. They all say it’s not that difficult, but that’s because the job they came from was a lot more demanding. Most teachers have only ever known teaching, so that’s the limits of their experience.

Get yourself trained, qualified and into the course then!!
4 years at uni & post grad diploma and 1 years probation. In 6 years time you'll be able to start on a salary worth much less than what you anticipated.

Its a career choice that is open to you if you have the education, aptitude, interest and skill.
195 days of paid work per year, what are you waiting for?

Teachers are striking over pay what's to understand. They didn't get 8% last year there was a pay freeze. Plus there has been a decade of real term pay cuts before that. They don't get paid for holidays. Most of the holidays are unpaid - the pay is just spread over 12 months. The job is a professional one. Your Dad is of the generation of teachers who got better pay in relation to costs. Some teachers are also a bit shit and lazy (not many and those who are are mostly men in my experience) - maybe he's one of those!

Public sector pay rises don't drive up inflation as they don't affect prices so that argument doesn't stick. If you want trained professionals to teach your children you've got to pay a professional wage. At present I could earn almost as much after tax doing an entry level job in hospitality. Nothing against hospitality I worked in it for years before training to be a teacher. I wouldn't have bothered with the training or sacrifice required to be a teacher if I had realised how skint I would still be 10 years in. I love my job but will leave if pay and conditions don't improve.

Troll.

1. The holidays are a good perk of the job and there’s nothing wrong with that.
2. I make less than 30k and regularly work 7:30-6 in school. I’m not saying this is awful or unique, just pointing out that you’re wrong.
3. Teachers are striking because the pay rise is a) pathetic when compared to inflation and b) not government funded so schools are having to find it out f non existent budgets.
4. ”They have it better than us” is a stupid reason not to support strikes. It’s not a race to the bottom.
5. If you think teaching is so great then train to be a teacher. I love it. It’s not a god-given right to be a teacher and it’s nonsensical to resent a career you too could go into for your perception of it being easy.
6. Your attempt at trolling is actually shameful but I’m aware that sadly there are people who do agree with some of your points.

Ha ha.

Okay.

No I was looking at being teacher a teacher but no thank you! The average primary teacher’s week is 60 hours once you’ve added on all the marking and lesson planning. Plus you’ve got worsening behaviour, vile parents that demand your time, all the targets, ofsted visits, not being able to take time off in term time…