Morgan was a Cameron 'yes wo-man' careerist....happy to see her downfall even if she was slightly shaggable.

Gove went far too much the other way and ended up as a massive back stabber.

I should think there are few tears for either of them.

Sporty & Nick
I very much agree with your comments. I have 3 kids who are just setting out on their education journey and am quite alarmed at the judgemental and bureaucratic state of the education system. It strikes me that there is such an emphasis on 'continued judgement' both on the kids in terms of testing and on the teachers in terms of exam results, endless evaluations and paperwork. This all just seemed to increase under the tenures of Gove and Morgan with thes result being less happy, less educated and more overworked kids and teachers. Teaching and learning imo should be enjoyable, and kids should learn by doing. Active participation and happiness levels would be much more indicative of a healthy education than exam results and league tables which are subject to manipulation at the cost of less able kids being chopped, higher dropout rates, low self esteem and rising family problems. This is best achieved by an appropriate exam based system which also gives equal credibility to other life skills e.g team sport participation, community/charity work, culture, music, debating etc i.e business skills that are more valuable than just subjective evaluations and test results. If kids are happy and involved then good teachers, if they are allowed to do their job, will involve them. Its really a society problem as being the judger is somehow seen to be the one in power but we all know that its much easier to sit in the easy chair than to be the one responsible for the job....and some parents in my experience are also guilty in that they seem to think they can outsource responsibility for their kids education solely to teachers and seemingly forget that what they learn at home i.e. attitude, manners, discipline etc and at evening and wknd clubs is much more important. Teachers cant be held responsible for all the social ills of this country and be expected to teach properly....and i think they deserve medals as well as good pay, rights and employment protections....so whilst it is a bit of a pain in the ar$e for me when strike action is taken, i am fully supportive.

haha, you joker.

...no doubt you'd call them spineless if they didn't stick up for their rights.

Ask yourself this:

Is it the teachers' faults that schools have sold off their fields and shut down their swimming pools?

Have teachers asked that there be continuous examination style assessments and streaming, despite the weight of research that these are not good for education?

Is it the teachers that have created the scramble to find a decent school for your kids/other peoples' kids?

The teachers and the unions are not the problem - the government is the problem. The current government is conservative and has been for some time. Anti-union clap-trap is not the answer. More outcry from the public about the state of education due to government 'reforms' is necessary.
Instead the divide and conquer tactics of the government are pulling the wool over many peoples' eyes and making them blame the teachers. Ever thought that these free schools are probably just an excuse to let the government basically wash their hands of education entirely?

Shame there is no decent alternative to the current government. No doubt a fact that suits plenty while they line their pockets without even needing a mandate from the people.

As was pointed out on here the other day. Teachers and their unions fall foul of every government, Tory or Labout because they are self serving whingers who think they can hold us to ransom. Being a teacher is a well paid job these days and conditions are very good compared to many other lines of work. If you don't like the teaching environment then don't be a teacher.

I certainly don't always agree with various government policy on education, in fact I think our education is woefully inadequate for many. However, I believe that what ever any government did, teachers and their unions would still complain because at the end of the day they care more about themselves that their students. It would also help relieve strain on the education system if we reduced immigration to a trickle as it should be. Laughably it's usually the same sort of people who complain about conditions in the class room who wanted to suppress all talk of limiting migrant numbers.