Ustec will ask all teachers whether or not they endorse the agreement with the Government

BarcelonaThe negotiations between the teachers' unions and the Catalan government will have one more chapter. This comes after the Department of Education announced on Monday that... will agree to an improvement agreement with CCOO and UGT without Ustec (the majority union)Now, 24 hours later, Ustec has announced it will consult all teachers to decide whether or not to endorse the government's agreement. Although the union still opposes the agreement with the government—which, among other things, includes a €3,000 gross annual salary increase for teachers and €300 million for inclusive education—Ustec, along with CGT and Intersindical, has opened a consultation for all educational staff. The unions want teachers to decide whether or not to endorse the proposed agreement. The consultation was sent this morning to the XTEC email addresses of all teachers and will remain open until Friday, March 13. This means it will close three days before the start of the week-long strike called by the education unions, which CCOO and UGT have distanced themselves from after signing the agreement with the government.

Ustec emphasizes that "the consultation is an unprecedented mechanism for participation in the education conflict, as it allows thousands of teachers to directly express their opinion on the future of the mobilizations and the conflict with the Department of Education."

Agreement with the charter schools

The inquiry from these three teachers' unions regarding the agreement comes hours after the government made another multi-million euro announcement for education. This Tuesday, President Salvador Illa signed an agreement to improve funding for state-subsidized private schools by allocating 390 million euros over five years. According to sources at the Department of Education, the investment aims to address "the historical underfunding of state-subsidized private schools." The agreement signed with the associations representing state-subsidized private schools plans to tackle three weaknesses in the state-subsidized private education system. Firstly, from this year until 2030, 193 million euros will be injected to cover the operating expenses of state-subsidized private schools and institutes in Catalonia, which comprise almost 700 educational centers nationwide. The agreement also includes rectifying a grievance that state-subsidized private schools have faced for decades: the lack of updated teaching staff salaries. To this end, €155 million will be allocated to staffing levels in schools and institutes, which had not been reviewed since the 1995-1996 academic year. Finally, the agreement also addresses the lack of resources in some private schools to serve socioeconomically vulnerable students (NESE B). In this regard, over the next five years, the Catalan Government will invest €41 million in so-called "school backpacks," that is, aid to cover the educational costs of students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

With these three financial injections, the Department of Education believes that a "more favorable improvement for schools with students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds" is being implemented, and that progress is being made towards a more stable and equitable education system. The agreement was signed this Tuesday morning by President Isla with representatives from the following employers' associations: the Christian School Foundation of Catalonia (FECC), the Catalan School Association (AEC), the Professional Association of Educational Services of Catalonia (APSEC), the Catalan Federation of Schools (FCCE), and the Confederation of Autonomous Schools.