According to a survey by the British government, teachers in England work an average of 11 extra unpaid hours every week. The National Union of Teachers estimates that if they were paid for the overtime, they would earn another £9,937 a year (about $17,300).
What’s really interesting, these findings come after Great Britain began requiring that teachers be “guaranteed 10% of their time free to plan, prepare and assess their lessons”. The 11 hours is necessary to finish the job even with that built-in planning time.
As one way of highlighting the situation, the union has declared Friday to be “Work Your Proper Hours Day”. Teachers are supposed to “take a full lunch break and go home on time”. Around here the local NEA/AFT groups call that “work to the rule”. It never works.
I wonder how that 11 hours of overtime put in by British teachers compares to the circumstances of most educators in the US.
The 11-hours figure is in line with the results of surveys FEA has done on our system’s teachers. And when you say “work to the rule” “never works” I’m wondering what effect you are hoping it will achieve.
Hah– I bet we’re even higher, or maybe it’s just nerdy me.