It’s March 2023, and Twitter is awash with gossip about a meeting with the unions on Monday. What are they going to offer? That’s the question under everyone’s thumbs. Lord knows if they offer a pay rise out of existing school budgets, schools will start to operate in perpetual debt, and then we will have a different kind of crisis altogether where schools need to be bailed out. So, I’m hoping that particular ‘solution’ isn’t accepted.
I’m as broke as anybody, so a pay rise would be most welcome. I’m fully aware though that for me it’s not so relevant. I can’t afford to live in my town even with a pay rise, unless it’s about 10 percent, I will have to move and change schools anyway. The strikes and a potential resolution has prompted me though to think about the ‘silent’ frustration that teachers have been expressing for years by working part time. I’m incredibly fortunate in that my school has allowed me to work part time, even though I don’t have children. I just needed to go part time to manage the workload. I’m clearly a bit of a slow worker. Today, it took me from 12-6pm to mark my year 11 papers. It was a blooming slog. But that’s the truth of it. I work 0.8, and pretty much every week I work a full day on my day off or over the weekend in marking.
I effectively take a 300-350 pound pay cut each month to be able to do this. I’ve no idea how anyone manages it full time. I certainly didn’t. There were always unmarked books scowling at me from the side of the classroom. I feel guilty that I haven’t joined in the strike days, especially in the face of a potential pay rise. But then, in my mind, I’ve been on strike now for three years. I’m not going to say that I don’t deserve it. I’ve taken that pay cut over 30 times. There must be hundreds of teachers around the country who’ve done the same thing. Who had to sacrifice money because SLT don’t understand the marking burden of some subjects.
Still, a little guilt nags. But that’s all part of the problem isn’t it: being too soft. Not being able to communicate clearly with management what you need or deserve. In a dysfunctional system, you get taught to blame yourself for everything. That any fault is your fault. I’d do it again in a second though; the rest and peace of mind that I have from working part time is more valuable than the money. There comes a point where more money doesn’t make you more productive. Though I suppose with more money, I could stop wasting time cooking and just live off Marks and Spencers food, then use that time marking. That might work.
I’m going to get a higher paying job. I’m going to live in a cheaper area. I’m not convinced that a pay rise will solve everything. Though I’m desperate for it, I think it won’t fundamentally change the issues that many schools face, and it could potentially make them worse if it causes them to get into a debt spiral. I’m fed up though of trying to be an obedient cog in the system I’m in when it isn’t actually serving me. I can’t change the system, but I can change my situation.
Why is this meeting not at 9.00am? We all have to wait all day to know anything.
Oooh, the suspense…