Sunday 20 September 2009

Big Weary Sigh

It's almost as though Ed Balls got the education budget, ran his finger down the column with the numbers in, stopped at the biggest one - teacher wages - and seized on that.

Less senior teachers? Does this mean I will be stuck at the chalkface for the rest of my life because there's nowhere for me to go?

Lower pay increases? What - even LOWER than the current sub-inflationary ones we're getting?

Oh, and good luck getting the unions to agree to that. I am already planning what to do with the time I get off for the strikes that'll cause.

As for the idea of teams of senior teachers running whole federations - the thought of my SLT trying to run seven schools as well as ours is enough to give me a headache, which likely indicates an aneurysm. The local federation of Academies has this - but they actually have MORE senior staff because there is the "business" leadership and the academic leadership.

Oh, and by the way, great idea making the running of Academies something you only need to have the skills to do, rather than the money. Isn't the whole point to increase private funding in education? And now they don't have to stump up any cash at all? Er....what?

Tell you what, Ed. Maybe stop sinking money into the diplomas as though you're going to be able to sustain that in the long term. And if you need to recoup some losses, I suggest a 90% tax on city bonuses for this tax year.

Meanwhile, getting out of teaching has never seemed so appealing.

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