Are you one of the thousands who have voted? Thousands of NEU members have already voted in the NEU indicative ballot on funding and pay and I urge you to join them if you have not already done so. This week you should receive either a text or an email from the NEU which gives you an easy link to the ballot. If you have not received either of these you can request a ballot ID here. This is a really important ballot, which we are running alongside the two headteacher unions, NAHT and ASCL, in order to put pressure on the government to address the funding crisis in our schools. A good vote in this will considerably strengthen our campaign. Please do discuss this ballot with colleagues in you school and arrange a meeting so that you can all vote together on your phones or tablets - our local officers can attend a meeting in your school if you wish. You can find more information about the campaign and ballot here and also watch a short video here about why teachers are voting YES.      Plan to convert Islington's Catholic schools into academy group dropped due to lack of interest  School Cuts Fewer teachers, more pupils: children are losers in school funding cuts New research by the School Cuts Coalition has found that the ratio of pupils to each classroom teacher has gone up in 58% of Islington’s secondary schools since 2014/15. This means less attention in school for our children and young people. While schools have been doing all they can to shield their pupils from the damage caused by the £2.8 billion real-terms cut from school budgets since 2015, the lack of investment in education is really biting. The latest research - drawn from figures produced by the government itself- shows that, in England, secondary school staff numbers have fallen by 15,000 between 2014/15 and 2016/17 despite them having 4500 more pupils to teach. Secondary schools in England have seen their staffing fall by an average of 5.5 posts since 2015. these cuts are falling heaviest on front line teaching, with each school losing an average of 2.4 classroom teachers and 1.6 teaching assistants as well as 1.5 support staff. The School Cuts coalition warns that the situation is likely to get even worse, as 17, 942 (nine out of ten) primary ans secondary schools in England and Wales are predicted to be hit by a real-terms cut in funding per pupil between 2015 and 2019 To see how funding cuts have affected your school visit schoolcuts.org.uk What do we want..... A qualified teacher for every child in every lesson Allow councils to open new schools where they are needed Consult the profession properly on changes to the curriculum and to examinations Don’t test the very youngest Fund schools and colleges properly Remove excessive workload and pointless bureaucracy End performance related pay for teachers Reverse unfair pension changes Ensure government/union talks are about policies rather than just their implementation Make sure we have enough teachers As never before, education policy is being driven by ideology not evidence. Every government announcement is laden with myths about schools, teachers and our education system. EduFacts - http://www.teachers.org.uk/edufacts - aims to challenge government and media rhetoric by presenting the facts about what's going on in our schools, our education system and in the teaching profession. 
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