Teachers will want to vote Labour but only if they’re equal partners in making education better

‘Education, education, education’ was how Tony Blair announced New Labour’s priorities for a 1997 government agenda. 17 years later presents the Labour leadership a huge opportunity to take back the debate on British education.

Teachers feel undervalued, misunderstood and under-represented. Turnout in strike ballots have been diminishing, displaying a growing unease with Union fronted tactics since 2010. Strike action has led to media attacks or equally telling silence on the part of Labour leadership. Teachers, and a growing base of concerned parents, are looking for leaders.

The Gove-era rhetoric on driving up standards by making examinations more rigorous is seen by teachers and parents alike as a giant leap backwards in terms of our understanding of differing needs and skills of children. To what extent does the erosion of coursework and the tightening of exam grade boundaries provide a better education or higher quality qualifications for our students? No evidence has been provided that this will do anything other than effect those that are less able to remember key facts and dates.

There is a socio-economic dimension to these changes that Labour voices should speak more clearly about. Schools with catchment areas that cover high unemployment, low parental University qualifications and lower wages will be the centre of an industrial model that does nothing to advance social mobility. When Blair put the classroom at the centre of his agenda it was to advance equality of opportunity and with social mobility stalling we need to return to that way of thinking.

The changes to the curriculum, particularly in mathematics and other core subjects, sees a greater strain being placed on school’s staffing, particularly in London and the South East. The government’s introduction of ‘Golden handshakes’ for the top maths graduates has not had a significant impact on the number of new maths teachers walking out of universities and into the classroom.

As of 2017, new measures will mean that Mathematics results are given a double weighting in the school league tables. School’s will want to give over more of the timetable to maths to reflect this, but haven’t the staff to do it. Add to that the need for students to study maths to 18 (with the current cut off being 16) and you are looking at a huge staffing.

One of Labour’s greatest achievements was in recruiting teachers and paying them a decent wage for a decent workload. Investment in schools is so much more than a financial responsibility; Channel 4 documentaries have demonstrated to everyone how integral the right staff around a child can alter the course of their future. Teacher’s want high standards and it is correct that they should feel the weight of responsibility that comes with shaping a person’s life. But the one thing teachers really want is a vision of the future for education that they can believe in, fight for and get excited about. Teachers want to vote Labour as equal partners in making education better.