Anna Scott, NEU member
Thousands of educators in the National Education Union (NEU) have taken to the streets in rolling regional action to show the government that we will not stand for further cuts to schools, and that any pay rise must be fully funded.
There were many fantastic speeches at the rally in Leeds on 28 February, with key messages around minimum service levels.
The government wants to talk about minimum service levels within schools on a strike day, but we want to talk about minimum service levels in schools all the time!
We want a qualified teacher in every classroom, a teaching assistant with every student who needs one, maximum class sizes of 25, and a minimum pay rise each year that doesn’t lead to educators leaving the profession in droves! All schools should be funded so that every child has a permanent teacher; so that every child has the resources to help them learn.
They talk about ‘levelling up’. Let’s level up education so every child gets the high-quality education they deserve. Let’s fight for school funding so that regardless of whether you attend a small comprehensive on the coast, whether you go to a large inner-city primary school, or whether you go to Eton, you have the same opportunities, the same education, and the same prospects for your future.
We need to fight to save education.
Teachers are standing strong, we will continue to take the action needed to show the government that we need funding at the top of the agenda. We are taking to the streets of London on 15 March, along with brothers and sisters in many other unions, to show that we are willing to stand together and demand better.
After that, if the government still doesn’t move sufficiently, the NEU must plan to escalate the action.
