I am, like many, not a fan of Just Stop Oil. I find myself thinking, why? Why do that? I sometimes wonder how I would have reacted to the suffragette movement if I had lived in that time? I imagine I would have had issues… I struggle to understand why, when someone believes in a cause so strongly they go to extreme measures; rather than sit down and try to solve it with reason based on their passion and knowledge. Therefore, the idea of striking sits very uncomfortably with me. As much as lying would.

I have now come to the conclusion that I am a fool.

If this government has taught me one thing it is that they can not be trusted on education. I don’t want to go as far as to say they are liars (but I will) in many ways it is worse than this. I have been a head teacher for 20 years and I have never seen education so beaten, battered and desperate. It is the fact that we have a government that, despite what the people who do the job say based on their lived daily experiences, presents itself to the general public as the saviours of education. As though there is nothing wrong and all is better than it’s ever been.

Greater funding…

Better outcomes…

A better curriculum…

A working accountability system…

It’s probably just a different perspective… and maybe I just need to see it their way? You see, I think our government really believes all is well in education… because if they didn’t they would do something about it, right? 

It makes me feel physically sick. I have never been a Tory but members of my family were (note the past tense). I grew up having a broader understanding of why they voted as they did and what they gained from it. They saw financial stability, enterprise and freedoms as key components even as they knew that there was a class divide and they were not in the top half. I like my local MP and feel that they want the best. But, these things in education can no longer be ignored.

Schools up and down the country cannot set budgets. Despite extra money schools are having to function by cutting their budgets to balance them. We are simply taking money away from children. Our biggest and greatest resource is our staff. You cannot pay them on hand claps and false promises. A responsible government needs to grow up and meet with unions to sort this issue. But what they do is tweet about teachers as if they created the problem.

We are not mental health experts, medical care experts, housing experts, financial experts, marriage guidance professionals, the police, social workers or agony aunts. We are education establishments and given the time and resource we know how to teach children stuff. Useful stuff that will help them in the next stages of their lives and make our country a better place.

We have a government that is so stuck in its mold (rather than mould) that they want us to be the enemies (got to have a baddie) as they tell the world how great education is, even as we all watch it crumble like a old unloved building. My anger isn’t really centred on these issues though. There is something this government has done that makes me utterly despair. It is morally repugnant and a shame on us all. It is the state of Special Educational Needs provision in this country. The fact that there is no capacity in schools to meet this growing need. The fact that far too many children don’t have schools. The fact that parents have to fight schools and local authorities to get support. The fact that we cannot access services that families need. The fact that transport is a finacial blackhole. The fact that local authorities are millions of pounds in debt within high needs budgets with no sign of help, or solutions to solve this… I could go on. It is an utter disgrace. We should be storming cricket matches holding banners and throwing yellow powered paint. Gamboling naked across tennis courts, chained together. We should be looking to the movements that made a difference. The Peasant Revolt of 1381… The Poll Tax…

Woo… hold on there Mr angry head teacher! The what!?! Do you know what you are saying? These protests cost lives… they were awful things.

And this is my point. I see these tweets from MPs disgusted that teachers are striking… but this is all we have. It is our democratic right. We are telling you that education matters. We want the best for the children in this country and any government who wants a legacy needs to put education right up there as its top priority. I know they won’t see the benefits but history will remember them – for the right reasons. What will be this current governments legacy… what will the history books say? I shutter to think. I can not imagine why MPs don’t see this?

We need serious investment in education. Not words without meaning. Yes, my budget is more than last year… but so is every cost I have. The increase hardly covers the unfunded pay rise we expect from you – never mind the £16,000 more for electricity this year, massive rises in food costs, gas costs, inflation on resources… We cannot survive in this world you control. We need teachers. We need leaders. We need them to stay and we need investment in education. I should have at least another 10 years in education… I am not that old a primary head. If it was this government and their current contempt for the teaching profession (Not sure they have ever really held us up… the odd DFE thank a teacher post maybe?) it will be SO much sooner. You are destroying education – not saving it – and it’s about time you recognised this. Therefore, when the NAHT ballot papers are announced I will be shocked if it does not meet the expected thresholds and even more shocked if it is not a clear mandate to strike. I’m still very uncomfortable with this… but what else do we have to do? Who do we trust more on this issue – Teachers and School Leaders or our government? I do not want a pay rise. I am happy with my head teacher pay. I want investment in education because I believe ALL our children deserve better. I will strike for this reason alone.