"Britain on Strike" - do you finally acknowledge we're important, then?

Raise your hands if you can tell me what the strike today was all about? No? Neither could this morning's reporters! It never fails to amaze me the audacity of their inaccuracies! The government have just announced that single mothers will be hardest hit in the benefit cuts. So what do they do? To cover their own flaws, they rally them up against the teachers.  Reps from ATL and the NUT were interviewed, MP's were interviewed and single mothers were interviewed. Where were the ordinary teachers being interviewed? Considering we're the ones being hit, we're the ones taking action, I didn't see a single regular classroom teacher interviewed.  So, what were "we" striking against?  3 things:

Retirement age being raised to 68;
Contributions being increased (currently 6.4% non negotiable);
Lower pension payments when we do retire.

Just to put this in completely selfish terms (it is my blog after all), what does this mean to me?  Well, I will be teaching stage fighting and break dancing until I turn 68. I will still be expected to leg it across the playground to break up two 15yr olds fighting and to carry out all my regular teacher duties. That also includes giving CPR (the updated version, of course, it changes every year), restraining students and teaching a full 25hr week timetable.  If I can't fulfil my duties, I will be sacked (as would anyone), if the school is kind enough to take it easy on my when I'm pushing 70 and anyone finds out, they will be sued for age discrimination.  I believe the term "screwed" becomes applicable here!  At the minute I pay approximately £120 into my pension and this increases each year with year's service.  If it increases as they plan, I will be paying nearer to £200 per month.  Teachers get no tax break, we pay the same as everyone else, so with £650 tax and NI, I will have to move home some time soon and there is absolutely no way I can afford a house (despite being very savvy with money in my early years, I'm clinging to my house deposit for dear life).  When I eventually retire I will get a pension I can live ok on, not "rolling in money", "not retire to Spain" money, but I'll be ok as long as I don't have a mortgage anymore.  With the cuts, I'll need to take out a second pension just to get by.

I love teaching.  I love my kids.  I love showing them that they can do anything their heart desires - after all, someone had to land on the moon and someone has to cure cancer!  I may "only teach drama and dance," but everyday I remind kids that the world is theirs for the taking, that they will make their place in history and that they are the centre of their own world. Some kids go home to parents who call them thick; some kids go home to parents who are unconscious drunk; some kids don't go home, they go to a care home; some kids go home to a loving caring family who tell them the same thing I do.  Some people build cars, computers or trains.  I'm in the business of building people!  And one day those people will be the future. I don't just teach children to be actors and dancers, I teach them to be decent human beings.  There is huge job satisfaction in what I do, but that's all there is. If anyone wanted to be a teacher now, I'd tell them straight that it's a thankless, moneyless job; they will work all hours and when they're not working they'll worry. The holidays don't exist, it's a chance for us to work from home! If you don't know a teacher, or if you aren't one, you won't understand.  I'd be happy for any news reporter to spend a day with me.  I'll introduce them to child protection, data, GPG's, assessment, CPD, cross curricular, extra curricular, going beyond your remit, sleepless nights, marking. You want overtime? It doesn't exist.  

I'm not a marte, I knew what I was getting into when I trained and I wouldn't do any other job in the world.  But don't you dare stand there on your pedestal and tell me I'm wrong to stand up for my profession. How many highly skilled, highly qualified, highly responsible professionals get paid as little as we do?  I don't agree with strike action, I never have and I never will, I believe there is another way, but I will also support my colleagues who do believe it's right, because it's their choice - it's one of the few choices we have left!