Organisations representing virtually all teachers and school
leaders in England, ASCL, NAHT, NASUWT, NEU and Voice
Community, have submitted a joint statement to the
School Teachers’ Review Body.
The statement calls for the STRB and the Government to listen to
the united voice of the teaching profession and to make the
changes necessary to recruit, retain and properly value teachers
and school leaders.
Teachers and school leaders have suffered from a succession of
pay cuts against inflation since 2010, negatively impacting the
ability of the profession to compete against other graduate
professions and increasing recruitment and retention problems.
The impact of the 2021 pay freeze continues to be felt, as each
month teacher and school leader pay is frozen while inflation
climbs higher. Huge rises in energy costs and the National
Insurance increase planned by the Government will add to the
already devastating impact of the attacks on teacher and school
leader pay levels since 2010.
Education unions are calling on the Government to avoid further
pay cuts and urgently repair the damage that has already been
done.
Increases to starting pay must be accompanied by equivalent
increases for all teachers and school leaders. The
increases must be enough to start to restore the pay losses
against inflation since 2010.
The joint union statement to the STRB further calls for a fair
national pay structure and the removal of performance-related pay
(PRP), for an end to differential pay increases, and for urgent
action to cut teacher and school leader workload.
Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of
School and College Leaders, said: “Teacher
shortages are a direct result of the erosion of teacher pay over
the past decade. This must be addressed with a significant above
inflation settlement that improves both the value of starting
salaries and applies a similar uplift to the pay of the
experienced teachers and leaders we need to keep in the
profession. And the government has to ensure that schools have
sufficient funding to afford that settlement.”
Paul Whiteman, General Secretary of school leaders’ union
NAHT, said: “Leadership supply for our schools is
teetering on the brink. School leaders’ pay has been cut by a
fifth in real terms since 2010, and this, in combination with
high stakes accountability, crushing workload, long hours, and
inadequate school funding, is driving leaders from the job they
love. We need a new, fair deal on pay to make a life-long career
in education attractive and sustainable. The STRB is an
independent review body – it must act like one and make the right
recommendations based on objective evidence and free from
government constraint and interference.”
Dr Patrick Roach, General Secretary of the NASUWT,
said: “There is clear and unshakeable evidence of the
enormous damage that has been inflicted on the morale of teachers
after more than a decade of real terms cuts to teachers’ pay. The
Government must now deliver a programme of pay restoration which
recognises and values the work of teachers and headteachers, and
teachers expect the STRB to deliver recommendations that will
help to restore teaching as an attractive and competitive
career.”
Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National
Education Union said: “Pay
cuts, high workload and the imposition of PRP have already caused
huge damage. The Government must change course, not add to
the damage by inflicting more pay cuts on teachers and school
leaders.”
Helen Osgood, National Officer with Voice
Community, said: “Teachers and school leaders have for
too long suffered pay freezes, staff shortages and a staff
retention crisis in schools. These issues must be addressed
immediately, so we have a profession that feels valued and
supported, and a profession which young people aspire to belong
to and choose as a career path in the future.”
