Strikes. Are you with them or not?

[Tazzy]

i think the teachers striking is wrong

teachers get more holiday a yr than anyone else? theyve got a pension scheme? they only have to work 7 hrs a day, to which, some just dump the kids onto class assistants anyway

and theyre moaning? taking into consideration that teaching generally is a bit sh!t?

i dont think it matters what government we have nowadays, theyre all going to shaft the working class tax payer and let the benefit sponging job shy ar$es live like kings!

[Mitching]

i think the teachers striking is wrong

teachers get more holiday a yr than anyone else? theyve got a pension scheme? they only have to work 7 hrs a day, to which, some just dump the kids onto class assistants anyway

and theyre moaning? taking into consideration that teaching generally is a bit sh!t?

i dont think it matters what government we have nowadays, theyre all going to shaft the working class tax payer and let the benefit sponging job shy ar$es live like kings!

You obviously didn't go to school.
Any clever, educated person will have read this thread and not come out with such a retarded comment like that 

[AudiA8Quattro]

I'm no expert on teachers, but there is alot of ignorance flying around here today.
And what's with all the hate towards teachers and public sector workers?
Some of you should go and work for The Sun 

[dom]

People seem to be missing the whole point of this. At the moment the public sector all get to retire with a cushy pension at 61 while us private sector bods, (who bolster their pensions) get to work a nice 5 years longer (8 years very soon). They are striking because they will have to work as long as everyone else.

IMO they are f**king work shy parasites.

Edit - and as for teachers, 13 weeks holiday a year, they need lining up and beating very hard with a common sense stick.

Heh, you'd last five minutes in a class of 30 arsey 15-year-olds.

The bit that people are missing - because the government doesn't want to tell you it - is this.

1) The average teacher pension in 2009/2010 was £9,806

Now, the real problem ....
  
2) 12% of teachers are aged 55-65 (in secondary schools this rises to 18%).  Given that current contributions are protected, if the Govt managed to bring the changes in, a huge amount of those would simply retire on the spot because they couldn't increase their pension pot and the final salary factor would disappear.  How the hell are we going to replace them?  Especially as ...

3) ... the number of people qualifying for secondary school teaching has gone down by 34% in the last two years.  One of the things that was attracting good graduates into the field was the decent (not gold-plated) pension.  If that goes as well, why the hell would a maths, physics or chemistry graduate go into teaching on 21k rather than earn far more than that in the private sector?  Especially those who have to do an extra year at uni to earn their PCGE?  I wouldn't if I was 22 again.

4) A new teacher earns 21k (outside London) yet pays £100 a month in pension contributions.  If that goes up to £160 a lot of new teachers - saddled with huge uni debts, and that's going to go up hugely soon - will simply opt out of the scheme, leaving LESS money to pay current pensioners rather than more.  In fact, that's starting to happen already.

5) Do you really want 68 year old teachers in charge of a bunch of teenagers?  If you've got young kids now, that's what they're going to get ... if they get a qualified teacher at all, that is....

6) Don't get me started on the 13 weeks holiday thing

Best post so far
Gotta love me them statistics!

Agreed. And for the record as an NQT I have opted out of the teachers pension scheme based on the facts above.

Anyone that goes into teaching just for the money is gonna be sorely disappointed.
There's a bit more to it than that, pretty sure it can be very satisfying seeing the children actually learn something.
I'd chose that over sitting at a computer in a well paid office job any day.

Again, bang on! No-one goes into teaching for the money! The salary is reasonable, the holidays are a massive bonus, job satisfaction is huge (mostly).

I've got a decent degree in computer science and could go into the private sector but I chose not to. Sitting in an office all day is definitely not for me, hence why I chose teaching as a career. Anyone who suggests that teachers don't earn their pay has clearly never worked in a school and the way I see it the government are removing one of the few 'bonuses' attached to teaching.

At the end of the day graduates are going to be put off going into teaching and eventually the standard of education in the country is going to be worse off for it.

[raferackstraw]

teachers striking when they get 13weeks holiday and by and large dont really do that great a job in giving kids a good education nowdays is a bit much really.

Thanks for that

look mate the simple fact of the matter is that most young people i have trained and had out working with me are poorly educated with regards to reading, writing and maths and even the most basic common sense.
 i understand teachers are hampered by lunatic h&s and unable to discipline properly unless they 'hurt their feelings', but teachers are hardly setting a good example
btw i'm on a salary of 18400 and apart from my nat ins i pay 100 a month into the  company pension scheme, so why shouldnt teachers pay in enough to cover their pensions?

[Tazzy]

i did go to school thanks, and everyone is entitled to an opinion

so im a retard for thinking striking is wrong? and instead of having my head up my ass, ive accepted that nothing will ever get better in this country? because fat cats will get fatter and the working folk will constantly be shafted for it?

all striking does is cause more problem, how about these teachers put the children first and improve the education? maybe my daughter will actually come home and tell us that shes learnt something...

i read in the paper today that all this has come about from 2 'left wing' control freak woman, to which one refused to let her daughter go to school because she didnt believe in tests? lol, how loopy is that?

[AudiA8Quattro]

Which newspaper was that?

[dom]

Which newspaper was that?

The sun

[AudiA8Quattro]

Surely not?
I love that newspaper, it is so cool 

[Jay]

And what's with all the hate towards teachers and public sector workers?

I don't think there is hate for public sector workers as such, other than they're striking because 10% (source BBC Breakfast) voted for strike action. It's about time public pensions are brought in-line with private sector workers pensions, that's fair.