Michael, your workload survey says: Teaching IS being made 'unbearable'

“Powell-Davies has claimed that our education reform plans will make teaching ‘a totally unbearable profession’.”  

Michael Gove, September 2013

“Teaching at 67, for even longer hours, divided and bullied by performance pay, Gove’s attacks will make our jobs impossible. That’s why we have to step up our  action to stop them.” 

Martin Powell-Davies

February 2014: Teachers' workload diary survey confirms who best understands the reality of a teacher's life  ... and why NUT members must strike on March 26 and then escalate our action until we win a real 'work-life balance':

Gove: Talks on 'implementation' only. NUT: We'll strike on M26

At today's meeting of the National Executive, Kevin Courtney, NUT DGS, gave a report from the discussions that are now taking place between DfE officials and seven teachers' organisations, including the NUT.

 

While some other unions might be trying to sell these talks as a real gain for teachers, Kevin confirmed that there is, as yet, no sign of any genuine dialogue.

 

Firstly, the meetings have only been with DfE officials, not Michael Gove. Critically, these civil servants made clear that the talks can only be about "implementation" of Government policy. (See letter below in full on the National NUT website).

 

http://www.teachers.org.uk/files/letter-from-michael-gove-11-february.pdf

On this, of course, Gove has been entirely consistent. Trade unions need to be consistent too. The promise of discussions about the implementation of Gove's agenda to attack pay, conditions and pensions should be nowhere near enough for any union to call off their action. It's possible that some minor concessions might be tabled, with the aim of dividing the trade union response, but the truth is that nothing substantial will be won until and unless action is taken of sufficient strength to force Michael Gove to offer genuine concessions.

 

That's why I believe a solid national strike must be built on March 26 and plans announced for further strike action next term.

 

Finally, the Executive heard reports that over 50 NUT Associations across England and Wales had already organised campaign stalls to take our message to the public, especially on Saturday March 8th. Above all, however, school meetings to build for strike action are also essential to make sure we have the strongest possible turnout on March 26.

Let Down by Academy Sponsors? Return schools to their Local Authority!

Yesterday, E-Act became the latest example of an Academy employer that has been shown to be letting down its students and staff. The Department of Education has announced that up to ten E-Act academies are to be taken off its hands.

Some parents and teachers in E-Act schools may be pleased that their grievances appear to have been heard. Others may be worrying what the future brings - and perhaps with good reason. That's because all that yesterday's announcement means is that the DfE will now try to hand the schools over to new sponsors - ones that haven't yet fallen out of favour with Michael Gove. 

Of course, what the DfE will refuse to recognise is the obvious conclusion that parents and teachers are drawing: academisation doesn't work! Despite the funding thrown at academies and the political backing that they have received from all the main parties, there is no evidence that academies improve education.

Instead, as E-Act has shown, there is increasing evidence that these privatised chains cannot cope with running large groups of schools. Notably, while the list of E-Act schools under threat has not been formally announced, there are some suggestions that some of the more geographically distant of the Chain's schools might be the ones to be removed, leaving E-Act to concentrate on a more geographically compact entity.

Are the DfE suggesting that it makes more sense to allow schools to work in partnership across a particular geographical area? If so, then we should remind the DfE that such partnerships have existed for decades - Local Authorities!

Unlike Academy Chains, Local Authorities are subject to elections that at least ensure some accountability to local people. LAs can properly plan local provision of school places. They aren't subject to the same pressures to profiteer that fall on private education businesses. They can guard against the excessive salaries (like the £300,000 that was reportedly paid to former E-Act DG Sir Bruce Liddington), dubious admission practices and other dodgy-dealings that have regularly hit the headlines from various Academies and Free Schools.

However, the real scandal is that successive Governments have legislated for a one-way ticket  that pushes schools into becoming Academies - but won't then let them be returned to Local Authority control. It's now starkly clear that this insistence on academisation is damaging education.

This damaging privatisation of education has got to to stop. Parents, teachers and unions have got to demand: return Academies back to our elected Local Authorities!

Strike on March 26: Let's make Gove listen!

Entirely predictably, it seems that today's 'talks' at the DfE (apparently just with civil servants, not even with Michael Gove himself) have again failed to address any of the real issues at the heart of the NUT's dispute.

As today's National NUT press release states, "It has been agreed that a weekly series of talks will take place which the NUT will fully engage in. However, the Government is still insisting that they will only be used to discuss the implementation of policy". No surprises there then!

To be fair to Gove, he has been entirely consistent in his attitude. He has always made clear that he was prepared to organise talks - but only to discuss how his policies are to be implemented. The inconsistency has come from the trade union side, who regrettably gave credence to the idea that genuine talks might have been won.  

Unfortunately, the NASUWT seem to want to maintain the illusion that genuine negotiations are taking place. Correctly, although belatedly, the NUT has recognised that, in order to apply the pressure needed to persuade Gove to properly negotiate, national strike action is required. 

While Gove may have been forced by the Review Body to retreat on some of his planned attacks on conditions, he is quite clearly still determined to cut costs by making teachers work even harder for less pay and pension. An equally determined plan of ongoing strike action needs to be organised to force him to think again.

National strike action is the best way to hit the headlines and force politicians to take note. That’s why every NUT member needs to take strike action on March 26. However, March 26 mustn’t just be another isolated  ‘protest’ strike but the start of an ongoing calendar of action that can apply sufficient force to make Gove retreat.

Parents and Teachers together, let's stand up for education!

As NUT members prepare for national strike action on March 26, Local NUT Associations are taking to the streets on campaign stalls to get our message across to the public.
 

On the campaign stall in Brixton this morning

The first of those stalls took place in shopping areas today, including in Hackney, Hammersmith, Southend - and in Brixton, where I went with other South London colleagues to help a Lambeth NUT stall that was also building for the 'South London Education Question Time' taking place on Thursday. (Details via http://antiacademies.org.uk/2014/01/south-london-education-question-time/).

There was a constant stream of shoppers and parents taking our leaflets, signing a petition opposing the proposal to set up a Free School on one of the Lambeth College sites, and discussing the unfair pressures on parents, children and teachers under Gove's privatisation and high-stakes testing regime.

Many Associations will be holding similar stalls in the next few weeks, including my own Lewisham NUT Association on Saturday March 8th, meeting at 11am at Lewisham Clock Tower.

Materials and leaflets have been sent to Local Associations by the National Union, so, if you haven't yet made plans for your local stall, then make sure you do so soon! 

Copies of the new National Union parents' leaflet and petition can be downloaded from here: http://teachers.org.uk/files/parent-leaflet-a5-4pp-9223.pdf. and http://www.teachers.org.uk/files/stand-up-petition--9265-.pdf.
Here is the main text:

The Coalition Government’s policies threaten the standard of education in all our schools and colleges. Help us to persuade Michael Gove to change course.

1 Ensure every classroom has a qualified teacher

Academies and free schools are now allowed to employed unqualified teachers. This is a big threat to standards of education.

2 Allow councils to open new schools where they are needed

There is a huge pupil place shortage but councils are not allowed to open new schools. Many councils are driven to putting portacabins on school playgrounds to cope. The Government only allows new “free” schools and these are often in the wrong place.

3 Make sure changes to the curriculum and exams are positive and planned

Rushed changes are stressful for children as well as their teachers. The Government should start listening to what education experts say. They should work together with teachers to develop an exciting and inspiring curriculum that equips children for the modern world.

4 Ensure there are enough new teachers – stop picking fights with the ones we’ve got

Michael Gove keeps criticising teachers. Morale is plummeting. Five years after qualifying 2 in every 5 teachers are no longer teaching. On top of that the current system of training teachers is under-recruiting. But instead of dealing with this problem, Michael Gove keeps attacking the teachers we’ve got and they are striking to defend themselves and education.

5 Get our schools working together and fund them properly

The evidence shows that schools working together is best for all children. Financial scandals at free schools show the dangers of privatisation. On top of this fragmentation, 6th forms in schools and colleges are facing 20% cuts while £1.7 billion has been allocated to wasteful and unnecessary free schools.

Join the campaign for education! Our children, young people and school communities need your help.

Supply teachers - NUT must organise to expose the profiteers

See: http://www.teachers.org.uk/supply

If you want evidence about the dire effect of privatisation on teachers' pay and conditions, you only need to talk to a supply teacher.

Long before 'pay portability' became an issue for permanent staff, supply teachers had already faced a 'race to the bottom' as unregulated agencies sought to hire their labour as cheaply as possible to make maximum profits, undercutting the official rates set down in the School Teachers Pay and Conditions Document. The increasing use of cover supervisors and teaching assistants to cover absences has tended to push rates of pay even lower. 
 
Most directly-employed Local Authority supply pools became some of the earliest casualties of Government policy - of all the main parties - to delegate more education funding directly to schools while privatising services and cutting council budgets. There was only one clear winner - the supply agencies that sprang up to corner the market. 

It has proved to be a very lucrative business. For example, Teaching Personnel's profits rose from £4.5M in 2008 to £7.5M by 2010. These, and other agencies, generate these profits by taking perhaps £50 a day as their ‘cut’ of the money that schools are charged by the agency for providing them with a teacher. The agencies are also outside the Teachers’ Pension Scheme. This is profit that has been made from education budgets that should have been benefiting children and teachers - not lining the pockets of profiteers.

While some teachers have opted for the flexibility of supply work, increasing numbers have been driven into insecurity by being bullied out of permanent jobs. Just like workers in other jobs on ‘zero-hour contracts’, they cannot be sure of a regular income. In either case, they complain that many schools give supply teachers inadequate support, even down to the simple things like showing them where the staff toilets are! 

Over the last year, and thanks to lobbying from supply teachers, the anger at the unjust way that these colleagues have been treated has started to be given a focus through the NUT. A Supply Teachers' Conference held last July helped to bring colleagues together and has been followed by the production of an NUT 'Supply Teachers' Charter'. (see report of the Conference on http://electmartin1.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/supply-teachers-at-sharp-end-of.html).

The Charter is a good initial step, raising the profile of the campaign to defend supply colleagues and calling for best practice to be implemented in schools (see picture above). However, feedback from supply colleagues is that the Charter, while welcome, isn't seen to be as yet anywhere near enough.

While the NUT Charter rightly calls for supply teachers to be employed directly on the proper 'rate for the job' , the harsh reality is that most colleagues will still have to look for work through agencies. That's why I believe that we need to start to go on to the offensive and start to expose the agencies' profiteering racket, for example through ‘naming and shaming’ to expose those with the worst rates of exploitation.  

There is certainly an opportunity for some stunts and lobbies to 'out' the worst culprits and get the story in the headlines. I also support the call for a national lobby of the DfE or Parliament to highlight the issue.

Of course, all of this will need organisation. I helped run a workshop at last autumn's NUT Divisional Secretaries Briefing to discuss how Local NUT Associations can help the campaign. (See: http://electmartin1.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/supporting-supply-teachers.html). 

The key has to be organising supply teachers themselves, bringing together colleagues who, by the nature of their work, can easily be left working in isolation. Some Local Associations have already organised local supply teacher networks and, at this year's NUT Annual Conference in Brighton, an official fringe meeting gives supply colleagues present an opportunity to further develop a national Supply Teachers' Network. 

I would support the call from Supply Teachers for the Union to organise a Supply Teachers Working party comprised of regional supply reps to inform the Union and to help organise national campaigns. However, I would suggest that a self-organised network, along the lines of the existing Sixth Form College network, with support and resources from the Union, might be the most effective way of building a strong organisation that can start to challenge the exploitation of supply teachers.

The campaign must continue, not just to defend supply teachers, but to warn every teacher and parent of the price to be paid when private businesses are allowed to make profits out of school budgets.

Countdown to March 26

Download as a flyer from http://goo.gl/B2rwFm

BUILD FOR NATIONAL STRIKE ACTION IN YOUR SCHOOL ON MARCH 26:

As Review Body steps in to rein back Gove from further attacks ...

NOW STRIKE TO WIN BACK OUR PAY, OUR PENSIONS  … and OUR WEEKENDS !

1. STEP UP THE PRESSURE ON GOVE: STRIKE ON MARCH 26
Michael Gove has already chosen to make enemies of the teaching profession. Now he is even starting to fall out with his friends!
Michael Wilshaw has spoken out about the high number of newly-qualified staff being driven out of teaching. The Review Body has rejected most of Gove’s plans to make workload even worse.
For once, Gove has had to take a step back. Now it’s time to step forward and push him back some more.

2. HOLD A SCHOOL MEETING TO PREPARE FOR ACTION
National strike action will hit the headlines and force politicians to take note. Nobody takes action lightly but we need to make a stand for teachers and education:

* 68 is too late to retire - and we are having to pay more out of our salaries for the privilege.

* Performance Pay will divide staff, damage education and be used to block our pay rises.

* 50 - 60 hour working weeks are unsustainable. It’s high time we won a real work/life balance.

3. GET OUR MESSAGE TO PARENTS
Our strike isn’t just about  defending teachers. We are also striking to defend children’s education too.
The National NUT has produced a new ‘Stand Up for Education’ parents’ leaflet explaining the damage being done by Gove’s policies. Call the NUT if you need some copies sent to you.
Ask your Head if the leaflet can be distributed to parents and/or quoted in letters home about the strike. If not, make plans to leaflet parents outside the school-gates or in the community. 

4. GOT A QUESTION?  - ASK YOUR UNION!
Most teachers will have taken part in other strikes and will have learned to ignore the misinformation and threats that the press and some managers may spread. However,  there are still bound to be lots of questions and  queries to answer:

* Look out for the Strike FAQs on the National NUT website.

* Feedback questions and queries from your school. Do feel free to email me and I will get back with an answer as quickly as I can.

5. TALK TO YOUR COLLEAGUES
Other teaching unions will not be joining the March 26 strike in England, although UCAC will be in Wales.
Many members of the NASUWT, in particular, will be unhappy that their Union isn’t taking united national action alongside the NUT.
Remind your Head and colleagues that no other trade unionist should be doing the work of a striking NUT member. If you think steps are being taken by school management to undermine action, ask for advice.

6. SUPPORT LOCAL ACTIVITIES  

* Make sure your school is represented at Local NUT Association meetings to build for the strike.

* Look out for news of meetings and public campaigning in your area. In particular, Saturday 8 March is a date earmarked for NUT street stalls. 

* On March 19, there is a pre-strike London NUT rally at 5.30pm at NUT HQ near Euston/Kings X. Come along to build for action on March 26 - and to prepare for further action in the summer term.