Teachers are doing a lot more with less

YOUR editorial (Nov 30) alleging disinterest from teachers on the country’s economic situation could not be further from the truth.

Every teacher and their family is confronted by it daily.

Did you forget that all teachers have already taken a 14% salary cut, new teachers an additional 12% and all are paying increased rates of income tax and charges? Like many others in society, teachers are doing more with less. How else were 10,000 additional children enrolled in schools when the number of teachers was reduced by a thousand?

Teachers are meeting their commitments under the Croke Park agreement and have been for nearly a year. They also met every one of their commitments under previous agreements despite much of the increase awarded being more than wiped out by pay cuts.

Noreen Flynn

President, Irish National Teachers Organisation

35 Parnell Square

Dublin