Govt must invest to demonstrate it values teachers

Responding to the Government's evidence to the School Teachers' Review Body on teachers' pay for 2020, Liberal Democrat education spokesperson Layla Moran MP said:

"The evidence published reveals a catalogue of problems in recruiting teachers, with targets missed time and again. Meantime, one in five teachers are now leaving the job within just two years while retention problems are clearly far worse in more deprived schools, making it even harder for those schools to improve.

"Tory Ministers should be offering a more generous pay package to teachers to stem the tide. Instead, the 2.5% pay rise proposed for our most experienced teachers is well below average wage growth. Worse still, this Government are not offering schools the extra money needed to cover the increase in teachers' starting salaries, meaning schools are being forced to pick up the tab, despite already being underfunded.

"If Boris Johnson wants to show this his Government values teachers, he must put his money where his mouth is. He should use the next budget to give teachers a properly funded pay rise, plus the training and support they deserve."

The Department for Education's evidence to the School Teachers' Review Body can be found here.

The STRB will present recommendations on teachers' pay to the Department later in the year for the Government to accept or reject.