3
PROTECTING SCHOOL
TEACHERS’ PAY
NUT Q&A FOR MEMBERS ON
THE GOVERNMENT’S PROPOSALS
Are the Government's plans for teachers' pay really so serious?
Yes. The plans approved by Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education, will break up the national pay structure by abolishing the fixed pay scales, ending the current system of pay progression and imposing PRP on every teacher. And all of this may just be an interim step to further "flexibility" on teachers' pay.
So what is happening?
Michael Gove put forward his proposals in December following a report from the School Teachers Review Body (STRB). The NUT and other classroom teacher unions have unanimously rejected his proposal but, after just four weeks' consultation, Mr Gove has published the draft 2013 School Teachers’ Pay & Conditions Document (STPCD) which confirms he is pressing on with his proposals. Governing bodies will be asked next term to adopt new pay policies and appraisal policies linked to pay in preparation for implementing the new system starting in September.
What is actually being proposed?
· No more mandatory fixed pay points on the Main and Upper Pay Scales, just minimum and maximum values for what will now be called the Main and Upper Pay Ranges;
· All pay progression to be based on performance and the outcomes of appraisal;
· No more incremental progression for Main Scale teachers based on length of service;
· Tougher criteria for "threshold progression" from the Main to the Upper Pay Scale;
· Changes to the existing criteria for progression on the Upper Pay Scale;
· No right to keep your existing pay entitlement when moving schools, not even your UPS status;
· A range of other proposals affecting other parts of the pay structure like TLR payments and AST/ET scales; and
· Ofsted to be responsible for holding head teachers and governors to account over "managing and rewarding the performance of teachers in the interests of pupils".
When will these changes come into effect?
The new pay system will start to be implemented this September. The revised STPCD will be sent to all schools at the start of the Summer term and governing bodies will be expected to consider revised pay policies and appraisal policies will be linked to pay to be implemented in September 2013, so that appraisal objectives set for the coming year will be directly linked to pay progression in September 2014. The first pay decisions under the new system will be taken with effect from September 2014.
Why is the NUT so opposed to linking pay progression to performance?
The NUT has been opposed to PRP in teaching since the day it was founded in 1870. There are three basic reasons for this:
· measuring teachers' individual contributions is next to impossible - our profession is based on teamwork and every teacher contributes in some way to every student's development
· there is no evidence that linking pay to performance motivates teachers in any case - but it will destroy the value of appraisal as a process supporting professional development
· decisions are going to be subjective, unfair or even discriminatory - they will be based on head teachers' personal likes and dislikes, the funding position of the school and a host of other reasons that aren't based on "performance" at all.
So what's happening to the Main Scale?
In future there will only be a nationally prescribed minimum and maximum for the scale - there will be no mandatory points on the scale like now. Schools will decide the number and value of scale points and how far teachers would progress each year - and any pay increases must be “differentiated” and clearly attributable to individual teachers’ performance. Incremental progression could be faster for a few - but would probably be slower for most given current funding pressures. Progression would depend on recommendations made when your performance appraisals take place. Unlike now, there would be no guarantees about progression at all.
Are any changes proposed to the Upper Pay Scale?
Yes - again there will only be a nationally prescribed minimum and maximum. There will no longer be mandatory points UPS 1, 2 and 3 and schools will be able to add more points in between if they choose. Progression will be on the same basis as on the Main scale but will be allowed every year rather than every two years in future. But teachers moving school can lose their UPS status and UPS teachers who stay in the same school may progress more slowly or by less because the school can decide where on the range they should be paid.
What about the pay progression I expected to get in September 2013?
The Government is currently saying that pay decisions in September 2013 - which will relate to the school year from September 2012, before these proposals were announced - should be taken in accordance with the current rules set out in the 2012 STPCD. This suggests that pay progression should be based on the existing criteria - including on the Main Scale - and that teachers should get the same incremental pay increase they would get under the existing scales. This is all far from clear at the moment but it appears that Michael Gove may at least have accepted that teachers have a legitimate expectation that they should get the pay increases they have been working towards this year.
What about our 2013 "cost of living" pay rise?
Taking into account inflation and extra pension payments, teachers' pay has already been cut relative to the cost of living by 11.7% since September 2010. Michael Gove has now asked the STRB to advise him on the September 2013 pay increase - but he says that any increase must be subject to the Government’s 1% pay limit for 2013-14. Some teachers might not even get that 1% - it will depend on what Gove does and how schools implement the new pay rules. Even with a 1% increase, the total pay cut under this Government relative to the cost of living will be over 15% by 2014.
Will schools be given any advice on setting new pay scale points?
The STRB recommended that advisory points (called "reference points") should - for the time being - be published for the Main Scale. The DfE has said that reference points based on the existing scales will be included in a toolkit for schools but this has not been published at the time of writing. The NUT will publish a model pay policy which will include recommended pay scales which are based on the current pay scales.
I'm an NQT on point M1 - what will happen to me in September?
The STRB recommended that NQTs on M1 should progress to M2 if they complete their induction successfully. It appears that Michael Gove has conceded that that should happen - but we know that he also wants any subsequent progress on the Main Scale to depend on performance appraisal not experience.
I'm on or near M6 and thinking about my threshold application - what about me?
The changes to the threshold system state that in future any qualified teacher can apply to be paid on the Upper pay range. Applicants will need to show they are “highly competent in all elements of the relevant standards” and their achievements and contribution to the school must be “substantial and sustained.” The removal of the guidance which previously existed to guide applicants and head teachers, however, makes the NUT fear that fewer teachers will be paid on the Upper pay scale in future - and teachers will no longer be entitled to keep that status when they move school.
Is anything going to happen to TLR payments?
Schools will be allowed to establish fixed term TLRs paying teachers between £500 and £2500. The NUT doesn't favour this proposal - we think many schools will reintroduce "rotating" TLRs and try to pay teachers less than now for extra work. We are also concerned that the STRB has asked Gove to allow it to review the whole TLR system in a future review.
What about Advanced Skilled Teachers and Excellent Teachers?
The AST and ET scales will be discontinued on 31 August 2013. Schools will be able to use the new Leading Practitioners range to create posts with similar roles similar to AST and ET posts, with pay rates above the Upper pay range and equal to the current AST pay range. The NUT fears that, with AST funding already being cut, the change will be used as an excuse to abolish such posts even though the change of designation does not itself justify doing so. Safeguarding will, however, apply to any ASTs/ETs who are not moved onto the Leading Practitioners pay range.
What about leadership group teachers?
There are no changes to the leadership group spine at this stage as this was not included in the STRB remit or recommendations - but this may feature in a future STRB remit so there could well be changes in 2014.
What will happen if I move jobs or take a career break?
Michael Gove's proposals will end the longstanding right to "portability" of existing pay rights. Currently, if you move from one school to another, you keep your Main Scale or UPS salary entitlement. If you take a break, you can come back on at least the same point as before. The new arrangements would remove that entitlement so you’d have to negotiate your starting pay in any new job.
Will anyone have their pay cut in future under this new system?
At the moment there is no proposal to allow teachers to be moved down the scales while in their current school (or in their current LA service if unattached) - but teachers will have to change their expectations of pay progression and other changes (see below) could lead to cuts in additional payments.
How is the Government going to ensure its changes are implemented?
Ofsted has been charged with ensuring that head teachers, school managers and governors implement the changes!
Will this be an end to the changes?
No. These are just interim changes. The Government is likely to look at conditions of service like PPA time and cover protections and at TLR payments and leadership pay in the next year or so, and then look at extending "pay flexibility" in just a few years' time.
What happened to the threat of regional pay?
The Government has agreed "for now" to keep a broad national framework including the separate pay bands for London and Fringe areas but without any extension of regional pay. The proposals to require individual schools to determine their own pay scales, however, threaten even greater fragmentations than would have happened under a system of local pay
How will this affect school funding?
The Government has already announced a cash freeze on overall funding for schools for 2013-14 and the “Minimum Funding Guarantee” for schools will still allow individual schools to get up to 1.5% less per pupil after formula changes. The Pupil Premium will go up by 45% to £900 per pupil but this will only partly offset these real terms cuts in schools’ main budgets.
This new system sounds like bad news - some teachers will get pay rises but others, even in the same school, won't do so?
Absolutely true. The NUT fears that in the longer term, especially given the shortages in school funding, this will mean lower pay for most teachers. It will also mean individual teachers having to argue for their own pay rises and negotiate their own pay when they change jobs.
Has there been any consultation on these proposals?
Michael Gove allowed just four weeks for consultation - including the Christmas holidays - before confirming he was going ahead with these proposals. That shows that he isn't interested in what we think. We have to make him listen.
So how can this be stopped?
The NUT & NASUWT nationally are considering the next steps. Both unions are already working together on action short of strike action and have already balloted members on our pay and conditions dispute with Michael Gove, allowing us to call strike action or extend our existing action short of strike action.
So -
Make sure you have an NUT representative in your school. Talk to your colleagues and let the NUT locally know how you all feel and what action you are all prepared to take. Support national action when it happens to help force Michael Gove to withdraw his proposals. And get organised to make sure that next term your school cannot impose an unfair pay policy that cuts your pay.
National Union of Teachers
February 2013