Mari Lois-Hutchings (34) from Monmouth is married with two sons, Tywi, 5, and Jacob, 8. Her husband Patrick works with computer systems.
I went into teaching because I thought it would be a creative career and spent my first year in a very difficult school in Peckham - it was a real baptism of fire. Then I spent nearly five years in a primary school in Swindon, which I loved. It had a charismatic head and was very exciting.
But it was a very demanding job. I'd get in at 7.30am and leave at 6pm, taking two hours of work home with me. I also spent up to £50 a month on various resources for the classroom. When I got married, my husband and I were on the same salary. Four years later, his salary had doubled and mine had only crept up. When I became pregnant, I didn't know how I could possibly have children and teach because it took so much out of my time. I hated the thought of doing it badly. Also, there were a lot of changes that year, including much more paperwork, which wasn't my cup of tea. I was a creative teacher and this was crushing. I began to feel a bit of a failure.
So I gave up teaching when Jacob was born in 1993 and started doing more creative things from home. Soon, I got a toe in illustrating and designing greeting cards. Now I run a course in developing arts and crafts for other women who are at home. I have a really creative life, which I don't believe teaching can give you. My friends who are still teaching are sucked dry by the system.
Blunkett's proposals wouldn't attract me back because there are so many other issues that need to change first. For instance, teachers are stressed because there isn't adequate funding to help them deal with all the special needs children in their class.
Teachers' salaries are also an important issue. Offering them help with childcare and welcome-back bonuses isn't enough. We had to pay for our own coffee. It's a little thing, but it used to really piss me off.
Even though the proposals are a welcome gesture, and there are certainly good things in the package, it is far more important to reward those who choose to stay than to drag people back with sweeteners.
A former education manager with Lewisham LEA, Beverley Clarke-Brown (44) has two daughters, who are aged 14 and 10. She also lives in London.
I feel blessed that I've done a lot with my life. My first job was in the classroom but I left after six years because of lack of promotional opportunies and changes to the curriculum. I then went on to work in managerial roles in Lewisham LEA, affecting policy and working with teachers and their professional development. But finally last year, after the fifth restructuring, I took redundancy. I also felt I'd done all I could and I needed to shift my feet.
Now I'm ready to refocus my energies and go back into helping kids. I'm concerned about children who are excluded and particuarly the notion that black kids are underperforming. Being a black teacher and a parent, I can't see how this can be, especially when, at baseline, black children are achieving average or above. What gives me hope is that I've seen evidence of more credence and more investment being given to the profession. The opportunities were there before, but people were too knackered to take them up. The fact that the government is looking at pay structure is good, but 3.7% isn't enough. A decent salary is the main incentive to getting people back.
I completed a returner's course just before the bursaries were announced, and I think it's unfair that I didn't receive help with childcare and travel expenses. I haven't even considered the welcome back bonuses. I plan to do supply teaching before making a decision as to whether I'm better cut out for primary or secondary.
Education is a force for social change, and I want to be somewhere where I feel I can make a difference. But I know it won't be easy. Teaching is a complex and challenging craft, and the first thing a teacher needs to do is gain the respect of young people.
Danny Fishel (43) lives in London with his partner, her four children and his six-year-old son Joel. He recently decided to go back into teaching.
I passed my PGCE in my mid-twenties and did not take a post until the age of 30, as I was pursuing a career as a musician. Family commitments made it financially imperative to take up a secure post in a special school, in Leeds, teaching 11- to 19-year-olds.
I worked there for five years and then, when my son was born, decided to stay at home and look after him while my ex-wife went out to work.
When Joel started school, however, I had no role any more, and it made sense to go back into what I knew best. I was out of touch with primary education and decided that I needed to do a returner's course.
Unfortunately, I applied before the new bursaries were announced. I may qualify for the 'welcome back' bonus as I am about to start a new post for the summer term. This is at a very supportive infant school in Hampstead Garden Suburb, London. I am currently training for a second career in counselling and hope to combine those two skills.
Karen Randle (35) has four children aged between eight and 14 months. Her husband Anthony is a solicitor. They live in north-west London.
After completing my PGCE in 1988 I worked in publishing, but I found it so boring that, at 24, I moved into teaching. I was thrown into a year 4 class in a tough inner-city primary in west London. The teacher who was supposed to be guiding me had too much on her plate, so I ended up doing the lesson plans myself. It was all a bit frightening.
After two years, I got pregnant. It was a relief not to go back because it was a tough job. I hadn't really had time to consolidate my teaching, and it was at the time of many changes.
Nine years and four children later, I've come round to the idea of teaching again. Although there's no financial imperative for me to work, I've always known I wanted a job when my youngest child was at school.
Until recently, I'd dismissed the idea of going back into full-time teaching because it's too demanding with a family, but reading about all the teacher shortages in the press must have had a subliminal effect on me. The fact that I can do a returner's course without it costing me money is a big incentive. More importantly, I read an article about job-sharing which I'd never considered in a primary context. That would suit me perfectly. With the teacher shortage, I hope that more heads will consider it as an option.
Having had four children of my own I feel more confident, and my experience of going into my children's primary school has been a very positive one. It would be great not to waste my training and the two years I spent in the classroom.
John Whitty (53) lives in north London. He is married and has a 13-year-old son. He used to be head of years 7, 8 and 9 in a London secondary school.
I was a teacher for 28 years, teaching biology and chemistry at the George Orwell School in north London, until 1999 when it was closed and re-opened as a 'fresh start' school. Islington Council didn't really want any of the old teachers to stay on, so it offered substantial redundancy packages. Many experienced teachers like myself jacked it in.
I'd had enough anyway. When I started out in teaching, we all loved it. But when you've achieved seniority, it becomes difficult marrying up the teaching with the pastoral side. Preparation time suffered, and it became a matter of watching your back.
I'm now retraining to be a plumber, which I'm thoroughly enjoying. The only thing I miss about teaching is the contact with the kids and my colleagues. If I was in a less secure situation, and didn't have the retirement deal, I'd consider taking up Blunkett's recruitment and retention package. I think it's quite an attractive deal. I've also checked whether it might affect my teacher's pension but, according to the blurb, it doesn't. That's something that could be very attractive to retired teachers - as a way of topping up their pensions.
Teachers' salaries are the problem. Of those who left with me, only one has decided to go back into teaching. The others are quite happy doing something else and, in most cases, earning much more.
