Why a national strike is the only option left

This isn’t an easy column to write. 

The formal ballot on strike action that ASCL’s Executive Committee voted for this week is an exercise in democracy. It is now up to our eligible members (those whose employment is covered by the School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions document) to tell us either yes or no. 

That, of course, is in keeping with a membership organisation: we represent your wishes. 

But - and here’s the difficult bit – we’ve got to balloting on strike action because it now seems the only route that remains open in resolving the current dispute. 

We have well and truly exhausted every other avenue. We have talked endlessly to the government. We have told them time and again about the funding pressures on schools, about the impact of pay erosion, unsustainable workloads, and the dearth of teachers to put in front of classes. We have provided reams of evidence, and sat for hours in sterile Whitehall rooms patiently explaining that these problems are causing damage every day to the school system that we care so passionately about, and upon which children rely.