The NUT is acting politically.The other teaching unions aren’t striking.

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It really annoys me when people go on strike complaining about the pay they recieve. Yet they are on a lot more than I am. I recieved my pay slip this morning to see that I have been taxed an extra £8, yet when you earn £17000 + you see know extra tax being paid. I bet teachers are on more than that!!

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The average pay rise in the UK has hovered at around the 5% level for several years. It’s quite clear that no-one in the public sector is getting such rises – so these are obviously being paid somewhere in the private sector.

All the evidence is that we are struggling to recuit and retain teachers. We live in a market economy, and as such it ought to be possible to pay the going rate to teachers – it’s only because the government has put an artificial block on public services pay rises that we are seeing the current crop of industrial action.

It will be interesting to see if such restraint is exercised next time MPs vote for a pay rise for themselves.

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Teachers have over rated them selfs. People who earn less than they do in other industries have to work 3 way shifs, long 12 hour split shifts who don’t have a life them selfs. But you don’t see these people go on strike because that’s life and they choose to take that path of career if they enjoy it or not. You teachers should work on overtime not pay rises if you have to do extra marking etc. If my job requires extra work I have to work overtime to get the job done so why can’t teacher work like that. Your not setting the pupils a good example of career education when you act this way. The message your sending out to puplis is “if you want more money puplis when you start work, go on strike”

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Peter,

In this province (British Columbia) teachers are highly paid – 90% of working people earn less. Per student funding is higher than any other country except the United States. Our schools are modern with state-of-the-art equipment and all teachers have a university degree. Parent organizations assist at schools and fund raise, and local businesses also do much to support the system.

Over the past fifteen years there has hardly been a time when schools were not under threat from unions. Last year there was a week long strike for (even) more resources. On the day my son was to do his final (A level?) exams pickets were up stopping students from taking their tests. Professional development is organized by the unions and for the most part has nothing to do with curriculum.

My son’s homeroom teacher couldn’t (and likely still can’t) spell and would ask my son how to spell words whenever she was writing on the blackboard – I taught both my children the basics of grammar, spelling and punctuation. Judging from the many posts from teachers on these forums teachers in Great Britain have difficulty reading and writing too, I wonder how they managed to get through university?

Giving in to the demands of teachers’ unions will not improve student achievment – it hasn’t worked here or in the United States.

I attended school in Great Britain in the 1940s and ’50s in institutions that lacked libraries or any of the paraphernalia that teachers today take for granted. Most of us went only to grade 9 yet we certainly had a broader and more in depth education than teachers provide students today.

Teachers’ unions have helped destroy the very spirit and purpose of public education – schools are no longer places of love and understanding but places of conflict and anger. It is no wonder so many parents are pulling their kids out of the system and home schooling, or sending them to private schools.

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As a newly qualified teacher, I spend every night working until about 9pm – whether this is marking, preparing, making assessments, or making sure I’m meeting SEN childrens’ needs. This is the case for most teachers. Yes, 13 weeks of holiday is seen by the public as overly generous, but myself and every teacher I know works through most of it, many going into school during the holidays.

The government quoted figure for inflation is completely ludicrous, it does not even begin to mirror the rise in fuel costs, energy and food. The increased responsibility and additional workload on top of just teaching has grown in the last 5 years.

You have reduced responsibility dealing with behavioural problems and very often completely unsupportive parents who treat you as a child minder. Therefore, why shouldn’t teachers be able to say ‘that isn’t ok?’ if they get the chance.

I have been annoyed in the way the strike has been reported by most sections of the media; particularly the ‘average teacher’s pay’ apparently being around £33,000 – this figure takes into account heads, deputy’s, SENCO’s and presumably the London bubble – and has been put next to the average nurse and police constable pay, making it appear a huge difference.

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I know exactly how hard they work for 6 1/2 hours a day and 39 weeks a year – and I still stand by my comments.

New qualified – yes – you may be working hard now – next year you’ll have it all sorted and then you too can go to a 6 1/2 hour day and still moan.

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