The secretary of state for education has confirmed that the NEU has won additional money for educator pay awards in England to be fully funded.
What this means
The government has agreed to plug the £460 million shortfall in the pay offer. This means heads will no longer have to find savings in their schools’ budgets to pay for it - saving jobs and preventing damaging cuts to children's education.
The pay award will be funded in full by the Treasury with new money – and I believe this signals the start of a genuine reset with Andy Burnham’s government.
We have been clear with ministers that their talk of hope and opportunity for our young people counted for little without the investment to turn those words into reality.
And ministers have heard that message loud and clear.
Your organising in your workplace, your votes in our indicative ballot, your message to us in July’s snap poll – it is your willingness to stand up and be counted that is responsible for securing this victory.
After talking with the education secretary, I am confident of her sincerity in extending a hand of hope to the entire school community. She has recognised that this is an important first step in improving our education system and the working lives of educators.
At the same time, I am under no illusion that there is still much to do. This is a step forward, but not the end of our Save Education campaign. Seventy-four per cent of schools have less money in real terms than they did in 2010; teachers have seen their pay cut by 23 per cent and support staff by around 20 per cent in real terms since 2010.
Next week your NEU national executive will meet to discuss our immediate next steps.
After that we need to hear from you. Your voice is vital in what we do next, and I will be in touch to ask how you want us to take this forward on your behalf.
