On 21 Apr 2014 at 8:50pm j.p wrote:
Teachers aet for national strike again. Thats fine with me. But only if the chillern can take a odd few days holiday off in school terms
On 21 Apr 2014 at 9:08pm Country Boy wrote:
Those who can, do .....
On 21 Apr 2014 at 10:04pm Head Teacher wrote:
There we have two hardly legible posts bemoaning the state of the education system. Perhaps J.P and Country Boy should have paid more attention during English lessons in order that they might better put across their message.
On 21 Apr 2014 at 10:50pm andrew james wrote:
Those that can, do. Those that can't, blame the education system.
On 22 Apr 2014 at 6:24am Albert Square wrote:
I am actually very sympathetic to the workload of teachers. I just resent how much leave those of us who only get 25 days a year max have to use to cover strike and inset days.
On 22 Apr 2014 at 2:47pm Earl E Retiree-Hopes wrote:
Yes, if parents get fined for taking children out of school when they are supposed to be in class, then teachers should also be fined for not being present when they are supposed to be at work. Maybe their fine should be related to how many "pupil-hours" they chose not to teach on any day they strike.
And as for having to work hard, and pay (a little) more to earn a decent pension - some might think they only went into teaching in hope of having an easy working life, and gaining a good pension at the end of it at others' (i.e. every other taxpayer's) expense....
Sorry teachers, I've had to pay for my own "top up" pension, and I to have to work long hours - oh to have ten weeks paid holiday on top of all that too... Don't forget who is paying for your "cheap" pensons - me and every other hard-working tax payer.. stop your moaning and get teaching.
Life is full of tough choices - you chose to go into teaching as a career, and no one said the "terms and conditions" were guarenteed for your (working) life. UK plc can't afford the generous terms and conditions it could offer teachers (and other public sector workers) a generation ago - the sooner you and all other public service workers realise that, the better.
Nope, no support from me, and I feel very sorry for all hard-working parents who have no choice but to give up a day's holiday, or a day's pay, to look after tehir children every day the teachers are on strike.
Bring back the days when teachers were true 'professionals', who put the education of the children intheir charge over and above their own personal gain. Teaching should be seen as a vocation, not a ticket to an easy, and/or early, retirement....
On 22 Apr 2014 at 3:12pm Frak wrote:
What an utterly ridiculous post Earl E Retiree-Hopes. Don't usually rise to the bait, but can't help it here. First of all teachers (and anyone else who strikes) do effectively get fined as they don't get paid for those days they are not working. They don't do it for a jolly and a nice day off. They don't get 'cheap' pensions they pay into it themselves and their employers do to, like many private and public sector pensions - it's not like they just sit there raking in extra cash. As for this supposedly ten weeks holiday - a large chunk of that is taken up marking, planning lessons, sorting out classrooms etc - I doubt it could really be classed holiday as you or I see it. I think you will actually find that the vast majority of teachers do 'put the education of the children in their charge over and above their own personal gain'.
I don't understand why people have developed such a massive anti public sector feeling when these are jobs that help society, that a lot of people wouldn't want to do themselves and that a lot of the time are hard work and not fantastically paid. If you allow the teaching profession (and other PS jobs) to be belittled and ground down soon you won't have anyone wanting to teach your kids, nurse them, save them from fires and it will all be run by private companies who only care about profit.
On 22 Apr 2014 at 7:55pm Ed Can Do wrote:
"If you allow the teaching profession (and other PS jobs) to be belittled and ground down soon you won't have anyone wanting to teach your kids, nurse them, save them from fires and it will all be run by private companies who only care about profit."
Because fee-paying schools consistently under-perform those supported by the state.
Oh no, wait...
On 22 Apr 2014 at 7:55pm bastian wrote:
At last someone who understands.
well done frak,
Having a pop at the public sector is a well known distraction from the real b*st*rds who are raking up your cash and not paying any tax either.
So much easier to shoot fish in barrel, and then ask them for help when you need them.
On 22 Apr 2014 at 7:55pm True To Each Other wrote:
The general secretary of the National Union Of Teachers is a lady called Christine Blower. In 2013 she earned a massive £154.000, what a good socialist she is.
Anyway it just so happens that she is also the vice chair of Unite Against Fascism where she receives a second wage as a UAF employee.
In 2013 the NUT donated £57.000 to UAF. A slight conflict of interests there I would say and one of the reasons why unlike other anti racist organisations , UAF do not register at Companies House or the charity commission.
On 22 Apr 2014 at 9:30pm Country Boy wrote:
Do teachers know who their customers are? It is a concept beyond many that I have spoken with at parents evenings.
On 22 Apr 2014 at 9:47pm Andrew James wrote:
Yes, well said Frak.
This is a pure form of the politics of envy. Earl E Retiree-Hopes is envious of teachers retaining a semblance of control over their own jobs. He thinks they should be stripped of their contracted employment rights because private sector employees chose to over the last 30 years.
He made the wrong choice in life, and doesn't like that someone else has wound up with a marginally more secure employment deal.
On a more fundamental level, denying teachers a decent pay packet is an endorsement of the view that children aren't worth educating.
Personally I think the educators of our children have a substantially more important societal role than lawyers do, and there's no real good reason why they shouldn't be paid to reflect that.
Good luck to all striking teachers, I wish I could do the same.
On 23 Apr 2014 at 12:02am skeptical green wrote:
Teachers don't have customers they have pupils although some management speak is working on it. As for the remark about private education this is completely misconceived. 1. Privatised public services don't pay top wages in their sector they make money for their shareholders by cutting wages and conditions which is spun as efficiency and 2.Most folk don't have a hope in he'll of affording private education
On 23 Apr 2014 at 12:11am skeptical green wrote:
He'll I meant He'll. All the teachers I know work their socks off and the ones at Priory and Chailey where my kids went put in masses of unpaid time providing extra activities. The music service ones are even more amazing. The idea that half of them should be replaced by people with no teaching qualification managed by a foundation consisting of Tory donating creationists and other assorted unnacountable Gove appointed loons fills me with horror