ASCL: Teachers are long overdue a better deal

Commenting on today’s news of increased flexibility over public sector pay, Geoff Barton, General Secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“Any increased flexibility over public sector pay is welcome but the ‘pay rises’ announced today for police and prison officers don’t augur well as they are still well below inflation.

“We believe it is essential that teachers are given a decent increase in the next pay round which addresses the years of real-terms cuts they have suffered.

“It is also essential that pay rises are funded from central government coffers rather than ministers continuing to expect schools to afford pay awards from declining budgets.

“Only today, the National Audit Office has warned of the difficulties that schools face in retaining teachers, and the OECD has reported how teachers’ salaries have fallen in real terms while those in other countries have risen.

“People do not become teachers for the money. But they do expect fairness, and years of pay freezes and pay caps have left them feeling undervalued. They are long overdue a better deal.”