The first major strike by state school teachers in England in years will begin next month.
National Education Union members who voted to strike told Schools Week how pay erosion and a lack of school funding is driving teachers to take second jobs.
Kris Jones is a computer science teacher and head of year 9 at St Peter’s School in Huntingdon. He earns £54,000, but debts and the impact of his partner’s maternity leave last year means his family struggles to get by.
He had a second job working for a removal company last summer to help cover his bills.
“I’m in this horrible mindset of being scared to spend money because I’m so worried that it’s going to be not enough at the end of the month.
“We’re not flashy. We don’t go out on weekends. It’s not quite hand to mouth, but it feels that way sometimes.”
‘Nobody goes into the institution for money’
Shakila Said, a computer science teacher at Tupton Hall School in Chesterfield, earns £23,000 working three days a week.
“Nobody goes into the institution for the money. I was considering increasing my days at school, but at the moment it’s not worth the childcare costs. It’s not worth that separation from my young child to do four days.”
According to the Institute for Fiscal Studies, pay for experienced teachers has fallen 13 per cent in real terms since 2010. But the government insists it won’t negotiate more than the 5 per cent offered this year.
Talks this week between Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, and union leaders once again yielded no results.
Nardia Thornton, a maths teacher and head of year based in Bristol, said teachers were leaving “in droves”.
“I can’t even Imagine someone entering the profession now being able to get a mortgage, which is insane for a qualified degree graduate.”
Keegan has repeatedly pointed to the average teacher salary of £39,000, but even those earning around that amount said they were struggling.
‘I have to work two jobs’
Vik Chechi-Ribeiro, a science teacher at Manchester Enterprise Academy, earns about £40,000 a year “which at face value seems a lot”.
“However, take into account that me and my wife have to pay for a mortgage, almost £800 a month for childcare, and increasing amounts on food, shopping, and transport as well as energy.
“I’m on the upper pay scale, but I have to work two jobs. I do private tutoring, maybe eight to 10 hours a week, on top of being a full-time teacher and a new dad.”
Tracey Taylor, a teacher at Mulbarton Primary School in Norfolk, also earns about £40,000 a year and is “really noticing that it’s hard to make ends meet”.
She said she intended to strike because schools were expected to fund pay rises from their own “really stretched” budgets.
“If we don’t do something, now, if the government doesn’t do something now, education is just going to get worse and worse.”
Robert Poole, a geography teacher, said voting to strike was a “tough choice. But for me, it’s an investment. I can’t really afford to go on strike, but I can’t really afford for it to carry on like it is.”
Your thoughts