From violent parents to excessive homework, from unruly pupils to the plight of special needs children, teachers will this week switch their focus from traditional concerns of pay and conditions to the state of teaching in UK classrooms. Here, Liz Lightfoot sets out the key issues causing alarm - including a plan to boycott Sats tests that is set to spark a bitter battle Teachers are to embark on their biggest battle with the government since the bitter strikes of the 1980s. This time it is not about pay, but the state of education itself. In an unprecedented campaign to drive national tests out of primary schools, the National Union of Teachers is almost certain to vote to boycott Sats for seven- and 11-year-olds. This is not an idle threat by militant delegates that will be overturned by the leadership at a later date; it... [read full story]
