School heads ‘disappointed’ in lack of education funding in statement
Headteachers have said they are “disappointed” by the Government’s decision not to increase education funding in the spring statement.
Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU teaching union, said if the Government is serious about protecting living standards, it should reverse the real terms cuts to teacher pay.
Reacting to Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s statement to MPs, she said: “Instead, with RPI inflation reaching 8.2% and in the midst of the worst cost-of-living crisis in decades, the Government plans yet more real terms pay cuts for teachers.”
Dr Bousted said the Government plans pay rises for more experienced teachers of 3% in September 2022 and 2% in September 2023, but she claimed those “paltry increases” are well below current and expected inflation rates.
“With inflation so high, the impact of this year’s pay cut on living standards could be even worse than last year’s teacher pay freeze,” she said.
“Enough is enough. More pay cuts will increase the already serious teacher recruitment and retention problems that are clearly impacting negatively on children and young people’s education. The Government’s plan to inflict more real terms pay cuts is a damaging and dogmatic political choice.”
She also said that Mr Sunak’s decision not to increase education funding to account for inflation signals “a return to the austerity of the 2010s”.
