A guide for school Reps and members

1.Forced academisation of all schools in England whether they want to or not whether they choose to or not whether they are successful or not 2. Complete de-regulation of pay and conditions for school staff (see slides 10 and 11) 3.An end to university based training and QTS Replaced by four-year “on the job” training accredited by individual Heads 4. Removal of parent governors from schools “Being a parent is not a skill set needed to be a governor.” Nicky Morgan.

1. Undemocratic There was nothing about this in their Manifesto for the general election in Lacking evidence We have written to the DfE requesting the evidence to back their proposals – no reply! 3. A threat to all teachers Whatever type of school you work in all protections will disappear and only statutory minima will apply

The government should be addressing the real problems of: Teacher recruitment and retention Pupil places Increasing class sizes Funding cuts to schools Chaos in testing and assessment Instead Nicky Morgan says: “Teaching unions have a choice, spend the next four years doing battle with us and doing down the profession they represent in the process, or stepping up to work with us.”

 Trade unions  Mumsnet: “government plans are despicable”  Financial Times and The Economist  National Governors Association  Local Government Association  Labour and Liberal Democrats  Many Tory Chairs of Education  The Bow Group & 1922 Committee (Tory groups)  And many, many more

“Labour will fiercely oppose these proposals and will work with the NUT to campaign against them.” Lucy Powell (Labour Education Spokepserson) “It makes my blood boil. I’m put in a position where I can’t protect schools. One size does not fit all.” Meg Tilley (Tory Chair of Education, Oxfordshire) “A policy that refuses to recognise local choice and differentiation. A tidy-minded rationalist blueprint supported by a poor evidence base. A large-scale upheaval for uncertain gain.” Roger Gough (Tory Chair of Education, Kent) “ I’m really concerned that this government have got their priorities about how to improve schools and support teachers all wrong. So I want to assure you that you have the support of me and my party in the fight against the government’s plans.” Tim Farron (Liberal-Democrat Party leader) “This is an ideological attack on teachers and on local and parental accountability – an attack which was nowhere in their manifesto at the last general election.” Jeremy Corbyn (Labour Party leader)

 The NUT is seeking to build a broad alliance to campaign against the government’s proposals to force all schools to become academies  We will be lobbying MPs and organising local and national protests  We need to talk to parents and local politicians to get their support

This is a partial list of some of the matters that will no longer be decided at national or local authority level. Instead they would be decided by academy trust chief executives and their boards:  sick pay level  sick pay rules  length of school year  length of directed hours  length of school day  structure of teacher working day  non contact time/PPA (if any)  class sizes  structure of school holidays  maternity, paternity, adoption pay above statutory minima Continued on next slide

 starting salary  salary structure  all pay progression rules  chief executive salaries  probationary arrangements  teacher qualification  redundancy pay (beyond statutory minima)  disciplinary processes  grievance processes This is an issue that affects all teachers in every type of school Are we overstating the case? An Academy in Manchester has written to staff saying, “We will honour national terms and conditions, while they exist.”

 The threat to pay and conditions is very real and removes all but the most basic protection  For these reasons the NUT is going to ballot all members in all schools for “discontinuous” strike action to defend national pay and conditions  We are demanding that national pay and conditions should apply to all schools and for a return to national negotiations  We are seeking the support of all other education unions  We are also talking to the BMA junior doctors about working together  So we are campaigning to defend education and balloting to defend our conditions of service

 The ballot commences on Monday May 23  The ballot will close on Wednesday June 22  The intention is to call a one-day strike in July, with additional autumn terms dates announced as well  We need a big turnout and a huge YES vote  It is important that all members understand what we are doing, why we are doing it and when we are doing it.

 This is the biggest attack on education and teachers for a generation  BUT our side is big and the government is divided – we can stop them  Every NUT member can help us build a campaign to stop them by taking part in the ballot and joining in other activities  Please vote YES in the ballot  Twitter #tellNickyNO #handsoffourschools