Thread by @TeaKayB

Some #TeacherStrike stuff: a thread that I'll probably add to throughout the day.

1. If you're outraged by today's #teacherstrike due to "lost learning" thanks for recognising the importance of schools and teachers to society. The best thing you could do now is to add your voice to the call for schools to be properly funded and teachers to be properly paid.

2. "Teachers only work 9am-3pm" is a lie. If you say, write, post, or do anything else to perpetuate this lie you are lying.

It's not even a little white lie. It's a massive glaring lie that anyone who has actually thought about the job of teaching instantly recognises as such.

3. "13 weeks [paid] holiday" is a lie.
_Children_ have 13 weeks off school per year. Teachers do not teach them during this time. 9 of those weeks are not paid. Most teachers tend to do a fair bit of work during most of them anyway.

4. "Some people get paid less than teachers." This is true, but is this really a race to the bottom? Why not campaign to make sure everyone gets paid fairly for the work they do, rather than arguing for everyone to be paid unfairly?

5. "Teachers have evenings and weekends off." I think some manage this, but for the vast majority of the teachers I know and work with this is an unattainable dream. I'm 40% p-t & still can't shake the need to work half of Sunday and all of Monday eve just to get the basics done.

6. "Teachers should do something else if they're not happy." Many are, and that's the point here: 1/3 of teachers leave within 5 years of qualifying, and 1/6 within ONE YEAR. Last year, the DfE missed its recruitment target for secondary school teachers by a whopping 40%. This...

... means that there are not enough teachers. This is not good for children, many of whom have practically no consistency in their education. The problem is most stark in subjects such as maths & science where there are particularly large shortages.