Personally I think that education is of absolute paramount importance. Teachers should get paid more.

Given the Tories track record, doesn’t their present obsession with taking schools out of local authority control, then changing teachers terms and conditions re: pensions and stuff….. Just scream ‘lets make this look more attractive to our mates in the private sector when we shortly privatise the lot’?

And why would any of us, teachers, or those of us with school age kids have even the slightest concern about that? It’s the panacea to everything after all. I’ll personally be happy as Larry when my kids school is owned by a private equity firm. Won’t you?

I’m sure they’ll have the best interests of our children at heart, and well paid, highly motivated and happy staff will be essential to realising that dream! And if they can, while achieving these noble aims, make a modest profit, then who could begrudge them that? I can’t see what the teachers are bleating about!

The holiday one is a bit of a myth; we don’t get 13 weeks, we get 4, the rest is all unpaid leave.

Are you sure that’s the case?

Are you sure that’s the case?

Teachers are only paid for term time (195 days ?)

Their pay is just divided over 12 months.

The “13 weeks paid holiday” is just something people like to use to slag teachers off.

It doesn’t actually exist.

So you get all that money and only have to work 195 days?
😀
(Kind of set yourself up there – I wouldn’t want to do it, have several friends who do. And I’m married to a child protection social worker. I know how easy my job is in comparison)

Well it does exist really doesn’t it? Clearly you’re not at work. So 30k pa is still 2.5 a month. And fwiw I do think teachers are worth that kind of salary.

have you done either and have you tried being a teacher?

No Anagallis I havent done either. But I have a son about to do a tour and I do work very close with social workers. Being a foster carer taking all the hours we do into consideration we get £1.59/hr and no holidays.
Couldnt bring myself to strike from that to be honest.

Brilliant well done you but how is this important for teachers?

Are teachers really hard done by? Its important for them that they realise we are all in the same boat, a bankrupt country?

Oh right yeah that old bollocks. But tell me whats your £ 1:50 an hour git to do with me?

Your overpayed

Your teacher was certainly overpaid.

as was yours

Are teachers really hard done by? Its important for them that they realise we are all in the same boat, a bankrupt country?

Bankrupt is hyperbole really isn’t it?

Pay isn’t that good considering the hours that are actually done, the stress, the lack of discipline, the poor management and government interference.

The people doing it are helping, probably more than any other sector, to ensure that this country can be successful in the future, without a first class education system this country will eventually go to the dogs, how much are we willing to pay to ensure that doesn’t happen?

If conditions worsen the only people who are teaching will be the people who can’t get jobs outside of teaching, i.e. the crap ones, what you really want is for people to want to teach because it is a highly cherished and well paid job where they feel valued.

The strike might in the long term have more negative than positive outcomes for teaching, but I can’t say I blame them for making a stand.

Don’t have time to pen a proper response now, will check back in a few weeks when I’m on holiday.

Understand your concerns but you cant condone striking we are all under stress at work. The more you care the more you have to stress about. Dont we all want higly cherished and well payed jobs but we dont all go on strike.

Couldnt bring myself to strike from that to be honest

So. ?

You’re not a teacher, so what relevance does that have to anything.

Understand your concerns but you cant condone striking

Well actually…

I can.

And I do.

what you really want is for people to want to teach because it is a highly cherished and well paid job where they feel valued.

I’m not entirely sure I want teachers to be doing it for the money – ie you shouldn’t be needing high salaries to attract the best. Not that this is a suggestion they’re paid too much.

joepose – Member

Understand your concerns but you cant condone striking

Watch us.

Care yo explain how you justify the overpaid claim? As I could jumo ship to the private sector for longer holidays more pay and the same pension.

What is the pay aa? Is it around 30k? And come on, there’s no way you could get a job in the private sector with as much “holiday”.
As for a pension what’s that? My “pension” is tied up at the moment in mine and hers parents. 🙄

We are pretty close to bankrupcy.Many government departments and activities run by the state are having redundancies and selling assets.

Fwiw if teachers want to strike then go for it but you need to work on your pr. People aren’t blaming those with the purse strings and asking to help you out they are blaming teachers for not looking after the kids.

Is the strike going to serve any purpose, do you think it helps your cause?

What do you do Wrightyson, what are the pay and conditions like?

at least the teachers have the balls to stand up for themselves not like the majority of UK workers who are letting the Government roll all over them

rOcKeTdOg – Member
at least the teachers have the balls to stand up for themselves not like the majority of UK workers who are letting the Government roll all over them

+1

I’m in construction! I manage anything from big factory builds up to £10 million to sitting on a mini digger. That’s how we work as a very small company. Just two of us. Before the last 18 months we hadn’t done any industrial work for three years, the whole business was very close and the only thing that saved us was the fact we had such small outgoings wages/office wise.
I’ve no pension as I’ve never had the spare cash to pay into one. As for hr and stuff like that 😆

What is the pay aa? Is it around 30k? And come on, there’s no way you could get a job in the private sector with as much “holiday”.

private school teacher…. Directly comparable… Longer holidays, more pay and same pension.

Surely its about getting what you signed up for? You decide on a career in teaching based on the the fact you will get a good pension at the end. Then the goal posts are moved. If you don’t agree you are perfectly at liberty to remove your labour like anyone else. As for the person who said why don’t they strike during the holidays 🙂 You don’t really understand what striking is meant to achieve do you 🙂

Parents only get upset because they treat school like glorified child car.

I would not do it, teaching today is a thankless job as we can see by the posts on here.

Yes you do need to pay people and offer a good package to get the best people in place. As for the “We should not have to pay to get the best” get real !!! Why should someone who has worked hard to get a lot to offer an employer give those skills away for a low wage. If you worked hard to buy an expensive bike, would you give it to me for half price !!!

Teaching is a hard job, its not a job you can do easily and effectively when you get older. So we need to take it on the chin and accept if we want good people teaching our kids we have to pay for it !!!

Or are your kids not worth paying to get the brightest and the best teaching them ?

The average teacher’s salary (nationwide) is £ 25,000.00/180 days = £ 138.90 per day/ 30 children = £ 4.62 / 7 1/2 hours = £ 0.61 per hour per student–a very inexpensive babysitter and they even EDUCATE the children! WHAT A DEAL!!!!

I’m not entirely sure I want teachers to be doing it for the money – ie you shouldn’t be needing high salaries to attract the best.

Does that apply to doctors too. I’m always amazed that we pay a GP so much and a teacher so little, given the responsibilities assumed for teachers. If teaching attracted the same sort of salary as accountancy, we’d see far more of the top quartile of graduates applying.

School should be made optional. It’d take a generation but people would really learn the value of education and those who teach.

Be careful though the drop out rates for trained teachers in the first five years are shocking.

Yeah, I know someone who used to work in the games industry – their company offered 20 days holiday a year (which you had to take Xmas out if), and during cruch periods there were 50-80 weeks (overtime was unpaid, no time in lieu). The industry is also rather unstable, with studios going pop or making big layoffs rather frequently.

So, for the good of their family, they decided to retrain as a teacher. I think they lasted a year before quitting to go self-employed, as the hours and stress was too much. It wasn’t quite the fabulous solution they thought it would be.

I have nothing but respect for good teachers, and quite frankly I think they deserve better – when you hear MPs parroting that they need their £65k salaries and expenses to ‘attract the best’ (whilst still comfortably being able to run with second jobs), I do wonder why the same argument doesn’t apply to teachers, nurses, paramedics, firemen, etc.

School should be made optional.

It already is. There is no requirement to send your child to school, only a requirement to educate them, hence home schooling.

They already are. There is no requirement to sent your child to school, only a requirement to educate them up to a defined standard, hence home schooling.

Actually, there’s no requirement to educate them to a standard, just to educate them. 🙂

I’d have thought tomorrow would have been an ideal ad hoc opportunity for a lot of parents to spend an additional day with their children, even though it might use up a days leave.

I don’t blame teachers for taking industrial action over pay and conditions, although I don’t think either are bad compared to other professions. However, I do then take issue with teachers facilitating punitive action against parents based on ‘unauthorised absence’.

If schools really want to avoid disruption caused by parents taking children out of school – it is a bit rich to then to cause similar disruption themselves and not face a financial penalty other than loss of a days wage.

I’m fairly sure that it’s the schools management who set and administer the penalties for removing kids, not the teachers.

However, I do then take issue with teachers facilitating punitive action against parents based on ‘unauthorised absence’

The teachers don’t do this, it’s the schools that do it. Incidently what “financial penalty” do parents actually receive for unauthorised absences?

gonefishin – Member
The teachers don’t do this, it’s the schools that do it. Incidently what “financial penalty” do parents actually receive for unauthorised absences?

Penalty information here.

A head teacher is responsible for the actions taken by the school. As the job title suggests – she/he is a teacher…

I didn’t ask what can be done I asked what was actually done. It doesn’t matter who is responsible (incidently there are plenty of others mentioned in your link that aren’t teachers) it is still “the school” and the educational authorities that actually implement it. Plus given the potential holiday savings I’d have thought that a fine of £100 would still make it financially worthwihile to take your kids out of school.

A head teacher is responsible for the actions taken by the school. As the job title suggests – she/he is a teacher…

I think that’s splitting hairs. You could equally argue that you could hold the head teacher responsible for their subordinates striking….