Teachers rally over pay

Teachers have choice of a new pay scale

Teachers from across England have been demonstrating against performance-related pay - some of them dressed in Victorian costume as a reminder of the last time such a system operated.

People are saying it is all over. I don't think it is. People haven't seen yet the form that they have to fill in

Campaign co-ordinator Kevin Courtney

The demonstration in London, involving a march and rally, was organised by the left-wing alliance Stopp - School Teachers Opposed to Performance Pay.

Around 1,000 teachers heard speakers including veteran MP Tony Benn and comedian Jeremy Hardy describe the plan as "arbitrary and divisive" and called for a possible one-day strike before Easter.

Stopp's secretary, Kevin Courtney of the National Union of Teachers, said his union had been founded originally to end the Victorian system of performance pay.

This week, the government published its proposed national criteria by which teachers applying for a new salary scale would be measured.

Teachers aiming for a £2,000 pay rise and access to the higher pay scale will have to show how they helped pupils improve on their previous best results.

'Distortion'

"The government say it was a much cruder scheme in Victorian times but we think it's still very clearly trying to link teachers' pay to pupils' results and it will have the same sort of problems for kids and schools and teachers as it did then," said Mr Courtney.

If a teacher's target was to increase the number of pupils getting A grades in their GCSE exams, for example, one way of doing it was to ignore those who would need some help to get a D. It would distort the way schools were run, he said.

The system would flow "top down" from the national targets to education authorities' targets, schools' targets and, inevitably, to teachers' targets, he argued.

Instead, Mr Courtney said, the existing teachers' pay scale could be extended so that everyone moved up, as had been done for nurses.

The government's proposed system would apply only to those already at the top of the scale - so would do nothing for newly qualified teachers.

Election issue

Mr Courtney recently challenged Steve Sinott for the position of deputy general secretary of the National Union of Teachers.

He failed - but polled 15,217 votes against Mr Sinnott's 37,821, which he finds encouraging.

Both had campaigned on a ticket of opposing performance-related pay (PRP), but Mr Courtney wanted teachers to take action on the issue.

"So when people were faced with the choice of who to vote for, both of us were saying we wanted a union strong enough to stop PRP - and he's the experienced one with the suit," Mr Courtney said.

"I think the fact that nearly a third of those who voted, voted for me - when I was saying we ought to go on strike about it - was very heartening.

"If Steve is saying he wants a union strong enough to stop PRP coming in, what is he going to do about it?"

Further action

Stopp is planning a lobby of the Department for Education on 1 March.

"People are saying it is all over," said Mr Courtney. "I don't think it is. People haven't seen yet the form that they have to fill in to apply for the new pay scale. It's awful."

He gives as an example a question asking teachers to explain how their teaching has improved the performance of a group of children.

"The only people who could write that are people who don't understand how schools are working these days," he said. "There's so much teamwork going on.

"This is really going to upset people. They are going to be really angry."