When do teachers decide that enough is enough?

Overwhelmingly, teachers are "can do" people. Usually optimistic, even against apparently overwhelming odds, teachers make do, cut their cloth to suit their (curriculum) coat, keep calm and carry on.But teachers tell me that they can no longer cope with the budget cuts being imposed on their schools. Many felt the pain of the deputy headteacher of Marlwood School, featured in last week’s BBC2 episode of School, who, barely able to keep her emotions in control and with tears in her eyes, declared: "We love our school. It’s just the unfairness. Cut after cut after cut."Viewers subsequently learned that this dedicated teacher had, after 22 years, left the profession. What a waste.In a survey conducted earlier this year by the National Education Union, teachers told us a sad and similar tale. Almost all said that they were pessimistic about their school’s budget prospects. More than half said that class sizes had risen and teaching-assistant posts had been cut. This double whammy has meant a massive increase in workload for teachers. One of whom, who works in a primary school, said to me recently: "I have a teaching assistant in the mornings, but am left on my own with 32 children – four [of whom are] on the autistic spectrum and one with mobility issues every afternoon. I am simply unable to cope.