Hundreds of North East teachers have rallied to a "stand for the future of education" on the second day of their strike for pay and conditions.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) walked out at schools around the region today, with hundreds joining a rally in Newcastle city centre where a series of speakers - including striking teachers, students, support staff and the North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll - called for better pay and conditions for educators. Teachers say that they are not only fighting for a pay rise, but a funded one.
According to the NEU, most teachers have been given a pay increase of 5%, while teachers starting out and early career teachers have had a slightly higher increase. They argue that with RPI inflation at 12.6% in September 2022, these figures represent a real-terms pay cut.
The union adds that as pay increases have come out of school budgets, it means that there is less money for classroom resources, learning equipment and food. Louise Atkinson, national NEU President, said that those striking had been "left with no choice."
She said: "I have seen the damage that the last 12 years of chronic underfunding has done to the profession I love and the education provided for the children and families I serve, as well as my own children. No teacher wants to withdraw their labour, and teachers are well known for going over and above and working some of the most unpaid overtime of any profession.
"We’ve been left with no choice, we’re making a stand for the future of education because every single day we see children and young people missing out on the education they deserve. The work we do as educators is so vitally important to families and children and young people that we serve, communities, and the future prosperity of our entire country yet for too long we’ve been undervalued and underpaid and the impact of this is a crisis of recruitment and retention."
Ms Atkinson said that the knock-on effects of the recruitment and retention crisis mean that one in eight maths lessons are taught by a non-specialist teacher, while that figure is even higher in physics, with one in four. She added: "Our young people deserve to be taught by teachers qualified in the subject they are teaching, they deserve to be taught in buildings that are not falling down around their ears and they definitely deserve support they need in order to learn properly."
Phil Robinson, a high school teacher in Northumberland brought his children Elsie, 9, Otis, 7, and Ziggy the dog to the rally, and said: "I’m here to argue and strike for fair funding for schools and the education sector. It’s absolutely no use saying we can have a 3 or 4% pay rise if it’s not funded and the knock on effect of an unfunded pay rise would cause more damage."
Storm Knight, a teacher at a SEN school in Sunderland said that everything the Government is putting in place for schools is completely inadequate and that her school is struggling to pay for basic resources. She said: "This is not just about teachers pay, it's about everything - resources, recruitment, and retention.
"There are no resources in schools, we don't have money for the basics like glue sticks, card, paint, anything like that. I work in a special school and because of the cuts that the Government are putting in place, we can't afford basic therapeutic resources."
During a previous round of strike action a teacher from Hadrian School in the West End of Newcastle told ChronicleLive that they had an Amazon wish list where people could buy resources that they needed for their school. Storm and her husband, who is also a teacher, say they have paid out of their own pockets for classroom resources and food for the school's breakfast club.
Jamie Driscoll, Mayor of the North Tyne Combined Authority, said that the teachers were on the side of the future. In his speech at Monument, he said: "This is about pay, it’s about conditions, it’s about retention, but really it’s about education.
"It’s got to be about trusting you, the teachers, to use your professional judgement. We’ve got to put humanity into this and this means putting the joy back into learning.
"But how’s that going to happen when a third of teachers leave in the first five years because of workloads, support, because pay is so poor? There’s something deeply wrong in Britain when hedge fund managers can be paid individually more than an entire school of teachers.
"The public is on strike. You are fighting for our future. Until we get the education system that is going to make our future citizens the envy of the world, we will never be the country that we want to be. You are on the side of the future."
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has issued a statement on Monday night in response to the strike, saying: "As a Government, we have made a serious offer to the leaders of the National Education Union and Royal College of Nursing: pause this week’s strikes, get round the table and talk about pay, conditions and reforms.
"It is hugely disappointing the NEU has thus far refused this serious offer and has not joined the Royal College of Nursing in calling off strikes. Instead of sitting round a table discussing pay, the NEU will once again cause disruption for children and families.
"Children deserve to be in school, and further strike action is simply unforgivable, especially after everything children have been through because of the pandemic."
Further strike days are planned for schools in England and Wales on March 15 and 16.
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