Teacher pay rise should be capped at 2% says government who doesn’t give a shit about the teacher shortage

[noblegiraffe]

www.bbc.com/news/education-47071633

FFS. They publish the teacher recruitment and retention document about how keen they are to get more teachers in the classroom and then in the same week say this? We’ve had real terms pay cuts since 2010 (except for one lucky third of teachers this year) and 2% would be merely in line with projected inflation.

The unions have asked for 5%.

It would be great to give teachers 5%, they definitely deserve it,

However, the government are unlikely to adjust schools funding to pay for it, so it would have to come from schools existing diminishing budgets, and many schools wouldn't be able to pay it. They'd have to make savings in other areas, and since staffing is approx 80% of the budget, it could lead to reduced staffing.

If the government were going to agree a 5% salary increase for teachers, and a 5% increase in schools funding, then I'd be all for it.