The education recruitment crisis has been on everyone’s mind for some time. Blame for it is loudly thrown around in all directions with the unions and the government blaming agencies, schools blaming the government and agencies, and agencies and the government blaming schools. All this noise is unhelpful if we’re really looking for solutions.
Pressure on school funding is applied from the top down. The government squeezes budgets and imposes vague, macro-level targets that are all but meaningless to individual schools. Guidance and advice is often out of touch and insufficient. In recruitment, this has opened a gap for poorly regulated, inefficient cowboy operators.
To combat this, a collaborative movement that will defy downwards pressure and de-saddle the cowboys is needed. While unions call for a return to pre-agency LEA pools, what’s needed is a forward thinking system for the digital age. We’re sowing the seeds right now.
In any sector, only grassroots change can make high level targets in any way meaningful. Don’t let’s wait for long-ball, anonymous government schemes to magically fix this. School year 2017-18 is the time and school leaders are the changemakers.
With Teacher Booker, school leaders can drive this change, starting today. Our mission is to collaboratively build a solution that halts the agency racket, promotes autonomy in schools, and bolsters school and MAT brand identity. The ball is rolling.
We believe in the power of collaboration to change the status quo. Join us to make the change.