Commenting on a new analysis by the
Institute for Fiscal Studies, Kevin Courtney, Joint
General Secretary, National Education Union, said:
"This is a compelling report on teacher pay and teacher
recruitment and retention, with conclusions that should wake the
education secretary up to the crisis in our schools.
"The IFS says that real-terms pay for experienced teachers has
declined by 13% since 2010, and that over the same period average
pay in the whole economy has increased by 2% in real terms. This
adds up to a relative decline in teacher pay of -15%.
"Unlike the IFS we would use RPI rather than CPI in our
calculations and come up with bigger numbers. But the relative
decline of teacher pay would remain. By our measure, teachers
have lost 23% in real-terms since 2010, and for support staff the
total loss is 27% during the same period.
"Given this climate, one that is built on years of real-terms
cuts to pay, it is no surprise to see applications to teacher
training well below Government targets, and schools reporting
difficulties recruiting and retaining staff. Across the
curriculum, there are shortages of teachers.
"Without qualified teachers in the classroom the education of our
children and young people will suffer greatly. That is something
that parents and employers will not forgive.
"This is the problem the Government has. We don't want to go on
strike, but we may have to. We want the Government to make a
correction on teacher pay, to protect the profession and to
protect the education of the young people in our schools. We want
a real-terms correction for the pay of educators and we want
funding to follow that into schools."
