Does anyone NOT support teachers’ strikes?

[Notbeinggoadybut]

I’ve got mixed views. Support that they, as all public sector workers, need a pay rise. And schools need more funding (but the NEU hasn’t badged this as a public reason which is a mistake IMP).

But 12% is a lot when you’re on a £40k salary. The TA’s deserve 12%, the nurses and ambulance drivers with dire conditions and worse salaries deserve 12%. But not from a starting salary of £40k.

Also public services can be dire. I work in one, it can be bordering on a joke and in so many ways such a waste of money. I will be striking on the 1st of February. But I don’t think it’s right - I voted against the strike. I want a pay rise, but don’t feel like it’s right to ask for 10% and strike if I don’t get it.

Hmm…husband in the private sector 20% pay rise and well into 5 figure bonus. He does much less work than I do for a large 6 figure base salary. Less academic qualifications too. What’s your point?

Get Govt out of education.

That would remove the need for stokes, among many other benefits.

I see this thread has reared its head again with the same old bollocks of ‘paid enough’.

I’m a Governor. Teachers I know are striking because it’s not a funded pay rise which has the following impact:

• schools can’t afford the number or experience level of senior teachers
• this means there will be less support for your child via TAs, classes may be merged, you’ll have non-specialists teaching STEM subjects say, there will be a lot of newly qualified teachers as they are cheaper
• curriculum resources. What’s that? Budget slashed
• Admin support in school office. Budget slashed so don’t complain when things aren’t done efficiently
• school building falling in as no money for essential maintenance and repairs
• Dealing with a national SEND crisis with minimal levels of support, sometimes not meeting statutory minimums
• etc.

It is YOUR CHILDREN who are impacted and is why many many teachers I know are striking.

@Notbeinggoadybut

Starting salary of £40k is not true. Where have you got this from? The govt is trying to get it towards £30k in the coming years but hasn’t even done that yet so where are you getting £40k?

Thats a false comparator though; I earn less than a teacher, work longer hours, have more qualifications, definitely less support, no public sector perks (ie pension scheme, sickness, etc).

The job is the job,.the salary is complex (factor in huge enormous pension perk, unionisation, holidays - unpaid, but still a lot in terms of actual number of days off - job security, prospects, ability to work anywhere (almost)...

IMO what should be addressed is yndertesourcing of out childrens education, which is making teaching a crap job. Paying teachers more isnt going to get people to stay in the profession for long.

Your masters level qualified and earn less than 28k? Why haven’t you signed up?

You’re*

Because I like the job I have, obviously.

I earn less than a teacher, work longer hours, have more qualifications, definitely less support, no public sector perks (ie pension scheme, sickness, etc)

the majority of teachers I know, myself included, are qualified to Masters level and beyond these days. There is constant professional development going on, either from a subject knowledge point of view and/or a pedagogical perspective and/or from working towards education-specific qualifications to advance into management or more specialised work (eg. Sendco). You can't just randomly say you personally work longer hours than all the teachers out there. That's ridiculous. Equally that you have less support...I mean, without telling us what you do, how can anyone agree with that?! A pension is not a 'public sector perk', and nor is 'sickness'. Granted, the relative position of someone on minimum wage on a zero hours contract is worse than that of a teacher but there are legal requirements regarding both pensions and sickness that many, if not the majority, of workers will fall under.

I'm not a teacher and I have mixed views. I take issue with your perk & pension comment. Public servants generally pay a large percentage of gross pay towards their pension. Currently I pay 11%. That is not a perk but an investment I make each month. I suspect teachers are similar. Ask yourself how much of your gross wage do you put each month towards your pension.

Apart from those on zero contracts (who I have enormous respect for) if your sick you get paid.

Changechangechanging
the majority of teachers I know, myself included, are qualified to Masters level and beyond these days

I thought you taught at an independent school? Parents like myself pay extra for that.

Yes, I do. I have worked in a number of schools in the state sector and lots with Masters (and a number with PhDs as well).

The strikes are not about pay, first and foremost, and I am stunned that you would post only about that without doing some research, or at least looking around you at the experiences of parents and children in schools.

To break it down for you, the government have done two things: failed to recruit enough teachers across the board, and cranked up expectations via Ofsted so that lots of existing teachers just could not keep up with their workload - never mind how much their pay was - and left the profession.

This has led to situations in many, many schools where classes simply have no teacher at all, or have to be taught in the most bizarre circumstances - a teacher teaching online from hundreds of miles away while a TA switches the computer on; classes covered by non-teachers for months; whole year groups in the hall with one teacher lecturing, year groups sent home on certain days etc. Practically every child in the country has been affected in some way, especially secondary - just ask around!!

Of course, this continues to create more unsustainable pressure for existing qualified staff, many of whom will eventually leave too, and worsens the behaviour, mental health and outcomes of students. Meanwhile no steps are being taken to recruit greater numbers of new teachers.

Does that now make more sense? Can you imagine the effect on you over time if this happened in your job?

Greedy indeed. FFS.

Absolutely @ChekhovsMum . All the consequences of teacher shortages that you mention are not things that may happen if things get worse, they are things that are happening in the vast majority of schools, already. The government have let it get to this point, and the teachers are striking to try improve things. By and large, teachers are not a greedy, grabby lot by nature. If pay was a motivating factor, most would choose to do something else. But if pay, and funding, doesn't improve, things will continue to get worse for students, and teachers care deeply about that. It will get worse because noone can be forced to be, and stay as, a teacher, they need to be persuaded. At the moment, the government are doing a terrible job of that, they're completely ignoring the fact that recruitment and retention of teachers exists in a market. Teachers are striking because they care about education, and they care about their students, and someone needs to do something. The government are not doing anything to address the actual problems in our schools (as opposed to made up problems like students identifying as cats), because they do not care.

But teacher also have not got a 12% and nowhere near and have pays frozen for bloody years, so....

I used to work 65-70 hours a week at one point as a teacher, do you work more than this?

It’s not really down to whether you think the pay is ok now, it’s whether you want teachers in classrooms to teach children or not. 10% of the UK’s teachers left teaching last year. We have missed recruitment targets catastrophically. Teachers are loudly and clearly saying that the job isn’t worth it and we have a massive recruitment crisis in schools. If you want more good teachers, the pay and conditions have to change one way or another. It could be cutting classroom hours, creating more support staff roles or paying teachers more, but all of those cost the taxpayer. If we want a functioning education system it’s got to be paid for. I work in the leafiest of suburban comps and we cannot recruit qualified staff this year. Some of the staff we have recruited I wouldn’t have even considered a few years ago, but needs must. We also have to put buckets out whenever it rains and clean our own classrooms. As it happens, I’m not striking (yet), but I will do if a properly funded offer isn’t arrived at soon.

@HopelesslyOptimistic teacher pension employer contribution is just shy of 24%. Employee contribution varies according to salary. It’s one of the best, if not the best, deals out there.

I agree with the OP. I don't support strikes. If you're not happy with your salary then go find a job that pays better. It's uncivilised to strike or go on protests. It inconveniences others and us just plain selfish.

@Emotionalstorm it isn't about pay. It's about funding schools properly - state schools that is. You are very wealthy so you don't know this, but costs have risen enormously. There aren't enough teachers, so if they go off to higher paid jobs, they will not be replaced. State education will suffer even more.

Officially strikes can only be about pay,but these strikes are about the entire future of state education. All children have a right to an education, not just those who have rich parents.

The strikes won't really increase funding for schools. Even if the government agree to a payrise if comes out of existing budgets so if anything it makes funding worse for schools.

This is true, but the answer here is not to just accept the government starving education of funding. This government has been at this for 13 years. They need to be told in every way possible that it has to stop. That includes strikes. It also involves voting them out, preferably in an utterly humiliating electoral wipeout.

@LouB7099 you said "but they get paid enough and have every evening, weekend and half term off (including all holidays such as Christmas, Easter ect)."

Where did you get that from? It's not true for me as a teacher, so I'm wondering what your source of information is (apart from the pay. I'm a teacher and not looking for more money). Every evening off is especially not true. Please tell me your source and I'll maybe try and see your perspective.

That’s what teachers are doing hence the massive recruitment and retention crisis ffs !

It is good but most schools are no longer part of the TPS as it is unaffordable.