15 March 2002
A teacher herself for 18 years, Morris's down-to-earth personality earned her many admirers and there was even talk that she might be able to restore the shine to the jaded, cynical and ever-decreasing teaching profession.
But it has all gone horribly wrong. This week, Morris is a pariah and the reasons are many and complex. She has the unusual distinction of being the first education secretary in 20 years to face large-scale industrial action.
The one-day strike by members of the National Union of Teachers was due to take place in London on March 14 as Public Finance went to press.
The NUT is up in arms over London allowances, which it says are not enough to meet the high cost of working in the capital.
The £3,000 allowance will increase by 3.5% from April but the NUT wants to see it rise by one-third. The government has argued that it rose by 30% last year.
In an outspoken attack last week, Morris warned the unions not to risk a return to the 'Dark Ages'. But NUT general secretary Doug McAvoy said the government had failed to understand the strength of feeling among teachers. 'In September, teachers will start their careers 10.8% short of the average graduate starting salaries,' he said.
Morris's problems with teachers are the least of her worries. She has also managed to rile the hugely conservative head teachers, who are now threatening to boycott her performance-related pay regime.
The head teachers' unions are not known for their fighting talk but they believe Morris has let them down badly. The National Association of Head Teachers and the Secondary Heads Association are threatening to boycott some procedures in protest at the fact that ministers have provided enough money to give pay rises to only half the teachers eligible for a new pay scale this September.
Speaking to Public Finance, David Hart, general secretary of the NAHT, accused Morris of 'dumping a pay scheme on heads without the proper resources'.
'The money available covers 50% of eligible teachers, which means that if we want to reward all the eligible ones, we will have to find the money from our own funds,' he said. 'It is unacceptable and flies in the face of all acceptable opinion of how to introduce performance-related pay.'
In uncharacteristic fighting mode, Hart added: 'The government thinks it has cracked it: "Give it to the head teachers to run but without any money to do it." Well, at some stage we have to draw a line in the sand.'
Several observers believe the unions have a point. 'This is a cock-up,' one said. 'The heads rightly say that those teachers were assessed on their teaching quality only a year ago when they were awarded the £2,000 performance bonuses available to those trapped at the top of their pay scale. It is inconceivable that only half of them are now as good at their job as they were then. It puts heads in the position of trying to find extra funds from already strapped budgets.'
Heads have threatened to stop doing the work required to process claims for the performance bonuses of experienced teachers.
But Morris is no stranger to fighting talk herself. After her speech last week, she warned head teachers that she would not be pushed. 'What on earth do they think is going to be achieved?' she declared. 'I am not going to budge, I am not going to put more money into the system, it won't happen.'
So the glowing relations between Morris and the unions have cooled. It was probably too good to be true. The profession is undergoing momentous change, and trying to keep everyone on board is an admirable, but not very achievable, aim.
What is clear is that Morris is being tested. How she handles these disputes will determine her reputation in the future.
'This is the big test,' said Hart. 'The outcome of this dispute about performance management and reduction of workload will demonstrate whether Morris becomes an outstanding secretary of state for education or just another casualty along the way.'
Morris has emphasised many times that teaching is 'one of the most important professions in the world', but over the Easter teaching unions' conference season, she will have a hard time trying to convince them that she means it.
PFmar2002
