Zack Polanski full speech at NEU conference 2026

Thank you. First, I want to start by saying what an honor it is to have been invited to give this keynote speech today. It feels incredibly special to be here with you all. You're at the center of the twin heartbeats that are so vital to keeping this country moving. education and organizing.

On Saturday, like so many of you, I'm sure, I marched through the streets of central London with the Together Alliance, marched alongside your general secretary, who always has the chance to perfection. Daniel puts me to shame on that. But amongst all the turmoil our country and our world is in right now, it felt so hopeful to be with so many people taking action. I know many of you will have wish you were there. It's not always easy juggling everything, but the numbers that turned out were a beautiful reminder of the caring majority in this country.

A caring majority who dare to imagine differently. Now, I've been thinking of lots of different ways to try and say education is the backbone of this country, but I've realized it doesn't need to be said differently. It just needs to be actually meant. Time after time, we hear how important it is to give our children a worldclass education. But funding for schools and colleges, it's stretched to frank breaking point.

Government after government has lavish praise on teachers, on the value of your work, and then refuse to pay you properly or indeed to even listen to those who know best about what good education looks like and what our children and higher education needs. So if they want to say education is the backbone of this country, they need to start acting like it because instead education in this country has been pushed to the brink by the toxic twin pressures of ideologically driven reorganization and an unforgivable squeeze in budgets. And the result, schools cutting teacher numbers, cutting support staff, cutting GCSE subjects, cutting school trips, extracurricular activities, investment in technology. And unfortunately, none of this will be news to any of you. And that's shocking.

We live in the sixth largest economy in the world. And it's a world that is changing rapidly. the rise of artificial intelligence, new threats from the climate crisis and global instability, and the rise of the far right. We should be moving mountains to make sure every child growing up in this country is as as equipped as they possibly can be to navigate these challenges, to make the most of the opportunities, to make their own choices, not just to survive, but to thrive. We are not expanding opportunity in this country.

We are shrinking it. And we are shrinking young people's horizons. And I know I don't need to tell you any of this. I'm looking out of a room of people who I'm sure are working to the bone to do the best with what you've got. Because you know that the kids you see every single day, the bright ones, the cheeky ones, the ones who struggle to keep up sometimes, the know-it-alls, you can guess which one I was.

They're the future. You see it in them. And in politicians, we need to see it, too. It is our duty to look at education and see more than budgets and exam results. To see more than numbers on a spreadsheet.

It is our duty to see more than just the challenges. To see instead how precious every hour spent in education is for the children in this country and to make it our mission to realize that potential. Because right now that potential isn't just being stalked, it's being dragged back. and not just by the narrow constraints being placed on the education system, but by a much wider failure. Before I was a politician, I worked with young people and politicians, commentators, journalists, they often talk about quote unquote young people's issues.

And yes, there are unique challenges that are facing young people and children more widely. exam factory education, student debt, a lack of job prospects. But when I speak to young people about the issues that are facing them, that are stopping them from learning, from realizing their potential, they're familiar problems to everyone. Problems with their housing, cramped homes, having to move a lot, damp and mold, not being able to afford the things they need, lunch, books, resources. Some of my favorite moments as a politician have easily been doing workshops with young people.

I might do it one year and then the next I meet a young person who's running a project in their local area. They're much more involved with politics or indeed they're now an elected counselor. And that has demonstrated to me over and over again the power of supporting young people, spending time with them to give them the skills, training, confidence, resources, and yes, most importantly, information. But if you're struggling just to get through every single day, there's only so much anyone can inspire or teach you because ultimately the heart of all of this is the cost of living crisis. I talk about people across this country feeling like they're running every day just to keep up with the next bill, the next rent payment, the next unexpected expense.

watching prices go up at the supermarket month after month while the money they're making stays the same. These are all issues I talk about all the time. But that's because the cost of living crisis is hurting the vast majority of people. And of course, this cost of living crisis is a crisis of childhood too. Today, nearly one in three children are growing up in households that struggle to afford even the basics like food, heating, and school supplies.

It's a crisis of youth with financial pressures forcing young people to curb their ambitions and make choices about their future based on what they can afford now. And it's of course a crisis of education. I know every day you are seeing ch children come in tired, hungry, unable to concentrate and unable to learn because they haven't eaten or been able to sleep. Kids missing school because they can't afford the bus fair. It's disgusting.

It should disgust us all. This is no way to raise the next generation, our future leaders, scientists, doctors, future teachers. miss out on vital learning because the cost of living crisis is squeezing us all too. And it is time for action. A few weeks ago, I set out the Green Party's plan to end ripoff Britain and make life affordable for everyone in this country.

Ending the privatization penalty by bringing water back into public hands.

Putting a stop to rip off rents with rent controls. And we need to bring down energy bills by breaking the link between gas and electricity prices and going further and faster on renewables. Woo! And one more for now. Let's insulate every home in Britain that needs it.

Woo. And that's the baseline. Fixing our economy so that no child goes to school hungry or can't do that homework because they're sharing a cramped room with all their siblings. taking the pressure off parents so they have time to actually read with their kids before bed or the energy to talk about what they learned today over dinner. Then we need to make sure that when they get to school the resources are there to give them all the support they need.

Frankly, that first of all means a serious cash injection to reverse the realterm cuts schools have been forced to try and cope with since 2010 austerity. And to be clear about the backlog we will continue to see over the coming years without more investment. We also need to see more funding for sex forms, for skills and vocational training, for lifelong learning. And look, when I talk about the need for more money for things like schools and colleges, I often get asked, can we afford it? How will we pay?

And as I'm sure you'll know, we have a plan to tax the extreme wealth being hoarded in. We need to make sure that money can flow around the economy to where it's really needed, like our schools. The average wealth of a billionaire in the UK grew by more than 230 million pounds last year.

That's right. Shame because that is money by the way that is made off the back of this country's education system from the skills and knowledge of the workers who actually create the value in our economy. And it is past time that money was repaid into the very systems it relies on. Because when I'm asked all of these questions that are reasonable about funding, the actual real question we should be asking is this. How can we afford not to make this investment?

Let's briefly look at the numbers. The UK currently invests approximately just 4.1% of GDP in education. That's below the OECD average of just under 5%. That puts us significantly behind top performing countries like Iceland at 5.6% and Norway who invest 6.2%. And the result, UK labor productivity lacks significantly behind other OECD countries.

62% of UK businesses report skill shortages that affect their operation. And the result of all of this is the cost of the skill shortages to our UK economy, which is absolutely enormous. It is estimated at 6.3 billion pounds annually in lost productivity. But what is harder to put a number on and more important is the human cost. It's become another cliche to say that education opens doors.

But I'm sure many of us in this room can remember a moment, a lesson, or a teacher during our education that opened up a portal to another way of seeing the world or a future we just hadn't imagined before. I certainly know that was the case for me. As a young child, I found school really difficult. My parents were going through a divorce. I felt really lost and my confidence massively suffered as a result.

But drama lessons at school changed my life. I hope that would cheer both the drama lessons and Miss Maywear. Thank you very much. They gave me a sense of confidence I never thought I could have. And the path those lessons set me on brought me to where I'm standing here today giving this speech.

It breaks my heart to think of the children and young people who in 2026 could have their lives changed by education in the way that I did, but right now having those doors slammed in their face because governments refuse to find the money. And that affects all pupils. But it particularly impacts schools and teachers ability to support pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. This is something the government is only just beginning to try and grapple with. Although it's really clear they don't fully yet grasp the scale of what is needed.

There is a huge urgency to turn around the situation for pupils and their families who are struggling so much without the right support. But a crucial part of the jigsaw has to be making sure the resources there to make learning in mainstream schools as inclusive and accessible as possible. And that benefits everyone right now. Nearly nine in 10 teachers say class sizes are too big. And if you just heard nine out of 10 teachers, that's an enormous statistic.

And they're saying that that's hampering the ability of their setting to be properly inclusive. And nearly 3/4 of teachers say the biggest barrier to being properly inclusive is our high workload. So it is time that the government listen to teachers and support staff. When you say resources properly, make our workload manageable and we'll be able to support our pupils better. Who knows who knows better than you do about what your pupils need?

No one. Because look the impossible stretch in time resourcing and budget facing so many schools is not inevitable. It is a political choice and political choices can be changed. We need to create an education system where the choices educators make is based on what's best for the young people they're teaching, not what their institutions are desperately trying to afford. and to reduce the amount of stress this false economy is causing on so many teachers.

Because funding can only do so much when schools, teachers, and children are restricted to teaching and learning within a dangerously narrow definition of education. One that is only measured by how well children and young people can pass exams. Time and time again, teachers tried to raise the alarm about how detrimental endless testing is for pupils. In fact, it happened on the floor just before I started speaking because it narrows their horizons, harms their well-being, and fails to properly measure students ability and progress. And yet, time and time again, you've been ignored.

This government came in promising change, but instead they're keeping all primary school testing in place and they're introducing new assessments in year eight. More pressure on pupils and teachers, more box ticking exercises, less time for real learning. It's time for a different approach. One that recognizes real learning, real skills, real understanding. It can't be measured by only by standardized testing.

One that recognizes the vital role of arts and vocational subjects and treats them equally within the curriculum. And one that genuinely equips children for the world they are growing up in. Giving them the media literacy they need in the dizzying social media and fake news landscape. the understanding of ecosystems and biodiversity vital to tackling the climate and nature crisis and the creative and critical thinking skills that set us apart from machines in the age of AI. my leg.

That also means abolishing offset.

Easier than that. I thought I might get you. Why did they get you? Because a toxic failed institution which is harming teachers and children and it is time to end it because this government's reforms are simply tinkering around the edges. We need to end the offset era entirely and move towards a genuinely collaborative model.

one that connects teachers on the front line with local experts, specialists in pedagogy, child development, and social care. We must make sure teachers have the support and guidance they need to meet the needs of their pupils. And we need to talk aboutmies, another failed model. Push on the teacher and The habits were pushed onto teachers and children by previous governments ideological drive to marketize our children's education and the results have been stark. A fragmented system with poor accountability allowing academy CEOs to be paid enormous salaries.

Wow.

Shame. That's right. And those enormous salaries would be bad enough. But whilst that happens, pay and conditions for our staff have worsened. And research into the impact of learning has found no positive impact on the attainment and progress of pupils in multi-ac academy trust compared to other schools.

And in fact, and in fact in larger multi-ac academy trusts, particularly secondary schools, the results were worse. And again, this government came in promising to fix failings in the system. But the new school's white paper, it will only entrench, forcing every school to join a multi-ac academy trust. But we know this model weakens accountability to local authorities, parents, and the local communities. It presses further structural changes on schools when what is really needed is proper resourcing.

It is yet another failure to grasp the root of an issue and it is not good enough. Instead, we need real transparency and accountability. Schools grounded in their local communities and staff treated well and paid properly for the work that you put in. Between now and the general election, I will be setting out in more details our plans to fix education in this country. But crucially, I'll be doing a lot of listening to those who know our education system inside and out and know what's needed to give every child the education they deserve.

Standing here speaking to you today is a powerful reminder of what's possible in this country if the political will is there. It's also a reminder of what's at stake. As I mentioned, I marched with so many of you this weekend with the Together Alliance because I know so many people are deeply afraid about the rise of the far right in this country. But it feels fitting to come from there just a couple of days ago and come and speak with you now because education is at the heart of how we defeat the far right. So much of the dissatisfaction, the tension, the conflict we're seeing in this country is a result of a political and economic system that has stretched our communities to breaking point and told people time and time again not to bother imagining anything different.

They told us that there is no alternative, that things can't get better. But the crisis we face, from the climate emergency to the increasingly unstable world around us, require a redoubling of our ability to imagine differently, not a crushing of it. And the first and most fundamental step to building a better world is being able to imagine it. Because then we have the courage to take the steps to build it. Because that ability to imagine, to create, to think about things in a new way, that's the very best of what education gives us.

That's what you give children every day. And it's your gift, not just to them, but to the entire world. And it is my job, every single politician's job, to give you what you need to do that the best way you can. In summary, we need proper pay, better conditions, more accountability, less exams. Let's teach our kids to dream again.

Those who oppose an educated population have throughout history a long record of trying to destroy people's imaginations. They tell us there's no alternative. You prove every single day that there is in your classrooms, in your staff rooms, in your union. You are already building a different future. A future where every child is seen, every child is supported.

And if we're serious about tackling the climate crisis, if we're serious about building a fairer country, and if we are serious about the future, then we start with you. Let's fund it properly. Let's trust teachers and let's make hope normal again. Thank you. Woo!

Woo!