Easter traditionally sees teacher unions engage in a trinity of attacks on the Government, each other and, in the case of the National Union of Teachers, themselves. This year, however, was different. Education ministers Ruth Kelly and Jacqui Smith received a warm welcome from social partners, the NASUWT and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.
Excluded from that partnership, the NUT presented a united front in opposing academies and the education Bill.
But goodwill was in short supply when the NASUWT accused the NUT of “completely missing the point” in its plans for parental ballots on trust schools. Despite his own plea for teacher unity, NUT leader Steve Sinnott could not resist retaliation: “No one at the DfES vetted my speech before I came to this stand,” he said.
Not commendable, perhaps, but still strangely comforting...
