Dear colleague

Last year, in your hundreds of thousands, you stood up for education.

Our brilliant Pay Up! Save our Schools strike action secured a funded 6.5 per cent increase in teachers’ pay and key concessions on workload and performance-related pay.

But when you voted to accept that offer, we said that the day could come when we would once again ask you to take action to save our schools.

Saturday 2 March 2024 – is that day.

Today, Saturday 2 March 2024, is that day. We launch our preliminary electronic ballot for teachers to ask whether you would be prepared to strike to make sure educators get a fully funded, inflation-plus pay increase and that the Government commits further funding to improve staffing levels in schools and colleges.

At noon today, we will email all teachers in state-funded schools in England and Wales and sixth form colleges in England with a link, asking them to vote YES, to help us heap pressure on a disgraceful Government that does not care about us, our schools or the children we teach.

This week that Government’s evidence to the review body that recommends teacher pay stopped short of putting a figure on the pay rise ministers think you should get, but said teachers’ pay needs to return to a ‘more sustainable’ level.

This is barely concealed code for another real terms pay cut for teachers, with no extra funding for schools and colleges to halt cuts and improve staffing levels.

This Government has overseen and deepened the worst crisis in education for a generation.

Education staff are leaving the profession in droves. And there aren’t enough coming in to replace them.

Desperate school staff shortages result in huge gaps in the number of subject specialist teachers needed to teach our children properly.

According to the School Cuts website 70 per cent of schools have had their funding cut since 2010.

For millions of children, these cuts have led to larger class sizes, reduced subject choice and less individual support.

For teachers, it has meant more real-terms pay cuts, unmanageable workloads and less time to teach each child.

Every single one of us knows this to be true. But today, you can do something to begin to stop the rot.

Today, you can cast your vote to take action on pay and funding to improve staffing levels in school.

If, as seems likely, Education Secretary Gillian Keegan tries to foist an insulting paltry 1-2 per cent teacher pay award on us next year, we need to say enough is enough.

If you vote in significant numbers, a decision will be made at national conference in April to progress to a formal industrial action ballot.

Very soon, we will also be conducting a preliminary electronic ballot of support staff members about their willingness to take strike action on pay, jobs and funding. This preliminary electronic ballot will open on Saturday, 16 March. Support staff can read more about our plans here.

In General Election year stand firm again, to demand fair pay, decent school funding and fight for the education system our pupils deserve.