PAY CAMPAIGN RESPONSES: (updated 17 July 2007) page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

As council tax and utility bills have increased more than the rate of pay increase, I have noticed that I have less money each month to pay the mortgage. Yet that rate continues to go up as well. Keelie, Havering

I totally agree with all the comments. The government should take into consideration the increase in inflation and interest rates when making such decisions. We as teachers are still underpaid, whilst the cost of living is increasing by the day. Some teachers are considering leaving the profession and seeking a living elsewhere. Why do graduates not want to teach? Bola, Southwark

My bills are increasing and my mortgage has gone up, Car tax is increasing as well as so many other things and yet my wages increase only slightly each year. I am a single parent to boot and find life a struggle. I shop at car boot sales, charity shops and spend valuable time looking for bargains on the internet. This is an added stress to an already stressful job. I believe the Government wants to squeeze out experienced teachers and replace them with NQTs who are happy to work for a lot less. We will end up with very poor retention of good teachers. Clare, Plymouth

I moved to the West Midlands from the South East because the cost of living is so high there. But prices are going up here quickly too. I don't know how we will afford to have kids and pay the mortgage. We need much more affordable housing, now! The government also need to stifle the buy-to-let market as it's pushing up the price of what affordable homes are available. We are struggling to recruit and retain teachers now in the Midlands. It is very common in the South East for posts to be filled by supply teachers because teachers cannot afford to live in the area. I worked in a school where this happened two years in a row in five different departments. They hired staff whenever and however they could. This is now happening at my school in the West Midlands and you can see the effect it's having on our students. The government need to sort this out now!!!! Sarah, West Midlands

I am coming to the end of my second year of teaching and I can't see a way forward. I am single and I would like to buy a house or an apartment. However, at the moment I have barely enough to get myself to work each month and to pay my rent. It is impossible to raise the money for the solicitors’ fees involved in buying somewhere to live, never mind being able to afford eat once I have paid a mortgage and bills. I would have chosen a different career had I known that teachers were considered second class civil servants. We are expected to do more and more for our pitiful salary whilst we watch our peers’ progress and grow in their well rewarded jobs. If the government values its educational staff as their documentation and speeches suggest, it is time for them to reflect our value in the salary they offer us. Katherine, Wirral

If pay continues to fail to follow the rest of the workforce, the government will be met with a mass exodus. Who is going to remain in a career that wants to see you homeless, destitute, dying early, and still ever-more accountable for results??? Mike, Havering

As a mother of two and the sole family wage earner, every month is a struggle. The cost of living has far overtaken my rise in earnings since I began teaching in 1994. At 35 I still need financial help from my retired parents to help make ends meet and to provide childcare for my youngest. Childcare costs are an impossibility. Without my parents help I would not be able to work full time! At the moment Teaching is a vocation and a profession which has not seen a financial pay rise alongside inflation as long as I have been involved! Kate, Stockport

Since graduating my debts have been ever increasing. I've no idea when I'll be free from my student loan plus other loans I've had to take out to cover basic, daily needs. Katie, Redcar and Cleveland

If you add the loss of earnings through below inflation pay 'rises' to the loss of earnings I will suffer through the TLR changes next year when my salary 'protection' ends, I will be worse off by thousands of pounds. I am totally disillusioned and counting the days to retirement. Patricia, Lincolnshire

I am full time Urdu language teacher. I am working as an unqualified teacher and I have got two kids and mortgage. My Mrs. is not working and it’s really, really hard for me to survive on this wage. Muhammad, Manchester

Having been teaching for three years I feel very undervalued as a teacher. I can certainly understand why so many young teachers want to leave the profession. My brother is in his final year at university, and he has already been offered a job with a starting salary of £35,000. It will take me years to reach this level. I can't afford to buy a house and can't remember the last time I went on holiday. The rising cost of council tax, bills and petrol is just adding to the problem. I work really hard and feel I don't get anything to show for it. Helen, Lancaster

I live in the South East and I feel a bit aggrieved that teachers who live up north earn the same as me yet my living costs are so much higher in the south than up north. My mortgage is massive and the cost of food and general living costs are so much higher than up north. It is not equitable and this needs to be addressed by the government. A pay increase less than inflation has even more impact on teachers in the south of England. Mr Brown you need to address this issue urgently as it is so hard to recruit good teachers due to the massive gap between the public and private sectors in the south and the serious cost of housing. I love my job and have just won Secondary Teacher of the Year for the South East region, but I find it very hard to make ends meet. I hope the government will address these issues in the near future otherwise teaching in the south will suffer dramatically. Tim, East Sussex

If the cost of living is increasing, teachers’ pay should be comparable to this. As inflation has increased significantly this year, teachers, pay should reflect this. Its simple maths! Sarah , Kent

In addition to losing out to inflation my school has not yet switched to the TLR structure and my management 4 allowance has remained frozen for the past 18 months. All this at a time when utility bills and cost of living are rising by 4+ %. No wonder my wife, who is also a head of department, and I never seem to make any headway in savings. We cannot afford new cars and always seem to have to borrow Peter to pay Paul in order to pay for family holidays; we have two children, aged 11 and 7. If we are not making any headway, imagine how it must be for our younger colleagues! It's about time the government recognised the value of public services and was prepared to pay the going rate for them, instead of applying skewed logic. Is this a question of the Emperor's new clothes? Can no-one in politics see the truth and be prepared to stand up and say so? Alan, Hampshire

I live in London and I find it very difficult to manage with the cost of living. My expenditure on rent, bills and council tax take most of my pay and at the end of the month I find myself sinking deep into debts. At times I do ask myself, am I in the right profession? Sulumenty, Merton

Having nearly finished my teacher training after many years hard slog, I am now thinking not twice but three, four and five times whether I can actually afford to be a teacher! I feel very strongly that the government should acknowledge, through our pay, the immense influence and contribution we make to society through our nurturing of the children in our care. After all who else in society is responsible for 'the next generation'!!!! Jennifer, Sefton

A Government with this record - not just in teaching - needs to be held to account. Not just our jobs; but the freedom of our country is at stake. There is only one way it will listen...the action is inevitable; let us strike sooner rather than later! M,

I live on my own in a small flat and earn enough money every month to just about cover my bills. I can't afford to: go on holiday (haven't had one for over 10 years), get my hair done, buy new clothes (have to rely on hand me downs from friends and family), go out at all or I will exceed my budget, I can't afford to buy meat and for the last two weeks of the month live on toast or jacket potatoes if I can afford it. I am educated to MA level and feel that I have completely wasted seven years of my life gaining the qualifications I need to teach and wish that I had had the foresight to go into something more lucrative rather than something that I felt was a valuable and worthwhile profession. The psychological and physical pressures of having to deal with sociological and behavioural problems as well as having no time to yourself due to the immense workload is not only completely unrewarded by my being able to treat myself to even a new hair do or a decent meal is something that is taking it's toll on my sense of well being and I am now looking into the possibility of leaving the teaching profession in search of a better wage packet and a better quality of life. Kerris, Medway

I am currently struggling to make ends meet. I have a young family including a disabled child. The cost of supporting his basic needs is far greater than the disability benefits received, leaving me in an increasingly tight financial spot. Much of the care provided for my child comes from his grandad who we support financially after he lost over 35 years' worth of company pension payments several years ago. At 67, his only income is the money that I can afford to give him each month. It seems to me that the more care and commitment we show to our jobs and to our children, the less we are rewarded. - Nick, Rochdale

Since the joining the profession from industry six years ago, I have constantly thought of what else I could do, especially at coursework deadlines. The inequality between subject areas in terms of workload is ridiculous. Core subjects have 30+ classes, others, maybe 5 pupils! No joke when you have 4-6 exam groups. I can only afford a holiday on credit cards and my budget seems to get tighter all the time. It feels like a mugs game. I have seen people worked into the ground having given their lives to the profession only to be pushed out in favour of cheap NQTs. What is the incentive to staying in teaching? It is a mug's game. Elaine, Birmingham

As a dedicated professional teaching for ten years I am still struggling to pay off student loans. Every month each penny is accounted for. I have not had holiday for the last twelve years, and have even found myself taking on an additional job during the school holidays to make ends meet. I have friends who left school at 16 with few qualifications, who work less hours for more money and much less stress! It’s about time the government took notice of how disheartened teachers feel. Even a ten percent pay rise is not that much when you consider how little we are already on! If education is so important then they have a funny was of showing it! All we hear in our authority is more cutbacks!! Jane, Wrexham

We couldn't afford to buy a house so we had to only buy a fifty percent share. We are also living with debt, as the cost of living increases we have to constantly cut back even on the little things just to survive from month to month. The most ironic part is my sister who does not work has more money then I do and I've spent four years at university! Victoria , Doncaster

We live in debt, earning less than our basic outgoings and have no prospect of breaking this cycle. As a teacher of four years, who transferred from industry, I am still shocked that my level of pay is so low. The prospect of low or below inflation pay rises, offers us little hope. We deserve more.Alex, Hertfordshire

Teachers on a pension will get 3.7% increase this year, and inflation linked increases into the future while those still in harness will get 2% (for the next 3 years) It’s not equal. It’s not fair. We will need action, to make them care! Let’s hope they listen to my rhyme. Or we'll be down the pub at dinner time. Pete, Southampton

NUT members at my school voted 54-0 for a strike over the pay insult. We all know what it means. Let's get on and organise some action over it. Andy, Newham

Although many of you are clearly undervalued and underpaid, please spare a thought for your teaching assistants. My wife works 35 hours a week as a Special Educational Needs Teaching Assistant, her work is extremely demanding and tiring (you try changing the nappy of a nine year old boy with severe disabilities), each night she comes home completely shattered. After tax etc. she takes home £700per month, £130 of that goes on childcare. How’s that for undervalued? Graham, Staffordshire

When I first started teaching three years ago I was quite impressed with my starting salary. As the years have passed, however, my wage has not increased enough for me to move out of my parents’ house, go on holiday or have a nice car. I’m not even saving any money each month because I just cannot. I have £738 deducted from my pay each month including my student loan. It's just not fair! I work so hard that I go for weeks without seeing my family or spending time with my boyfriend. My hard work should be reflected in my pay otherwise what's the point? Nesil, Enfield

After the announcement of cuts in adult education I tried to get a job teaching History in 14-19 education in secondary. I have 10 years experience teaching ESOL in Further Education to 14-19s, a First Class BA in History, a PGCE with ESOL specialism and an MA in Contemporary History & Politics. Yet I was told by all the schools I applied to that I have to go on the GTP and earn £18,000 as opposed to the £30,000 I earned as a qualified post-compulsory teacher of ESOL in a college. I want to make the switch to teach 11-19 Humanities, but I can't afford to! And why should I have to re-qualify from scratch on the GTP when I'm qualified in colleges to teach 14-19s - having met the generic teaching specifications for this sector - and would be paid commensurately? All I lack is the subject-specific pedagogy, which I'm happy to undergo training to acquire, but not if that means being taken back to the pay I would have had were I a new graduate with NO teaching experience whatsoever! I simply can't afford it. The system stinks..... James, Hackney

I've noticed of late how everything has gone up in cost. Council tax, mortgage repayments, weekly shopping bill, utility bills but my wage hasn't gone up to cover this. In fact over the last two months it has actually decreased. I'm lucky to have my own home but as regards to holidays, saving for the future or the occasional luxury item, forget it. I certainly don't feel valued. Teaching children is fantastic and worthwhile. The life that goes with it at the moment isn't. Dean, Norfolk

It is increasingly difficult to keep up mortgage payments- so much so that I would seriously consider moving house but we are expecting a child and simply cannot afford to move. Everyone I know in the school I work in is ready to take strike action. I don't know why we have to wait so long. Jason, Bolton

I have been charged £90 by my bank for being more than £2,000 overdrawn. I merely survive on my wage and I have thought about leaving this world for good. All I seem to see is the cost of living increasing and the pay not reflecting that. One example is the council tax. I never thought I would be rich working as a teacher but I had expected a decent living. The gross pay looks very attractive. However, after all the deductions (tax, national insurance, teachers pension and student loan) I am left with very little to spend. Some people I know earn more not working. Ali, Rochdale

I gave up a full time job to train as a teacher at the age of 39 as this was my lifetime ambition, however, after five years at university, a lot of debt and hard times I am no better off. To add insult to injury I moved from Scotland to England, and my pay reduced in England despite me having to pay nearly twice as much for similar housing in England. For the work we do, the daily insults and abuse we endure, the pay is way below what we deserve. Sandra, Northamptonshire

Living in London is expensive enough with travel and council tax. I have been teaching for a few years now but have no hope of being able to afford my own home. If I want to buy I would have to do so out of the area, which would mean leaving London as I would not be able to afford travel costs and would lose a lot of my own time. Who will teach the children if we can't afford to live here? G, Tower Hamlets

Both my husband and I are teachers and are trying to buy our first home. Impossible! We both have student debt and despite working extremely hard still can not get on the property ladder. I have even had a pay decrease due to the introduction of TLRs. Many of our friends work in industry and have not had the same problem -they get bigger salaries, less hours, regular pay increases, bonuses, incentives, perks from the job and thanks and recognition for the job they are doing. This has made both of us very disillusioned and we have even thought about leaving the profession which would be a shame as we both love our jobs. Fiona, Wirral

PAY CAMPAIGN RESPONSES: page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17