The Government’s refusal to return to the negotiating table over pay shows “a lack of concern” for children and “contempt” for teachers and school leaders, a union boss will say.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), will accuse the Government of “selling young people down the river” over a lack of funding in schools.
In a speech to school leaders on Friday, Mr Whiteman will say “underpaid” staff working in “underfunded” schools under a “punitive” inspection regime will not solve the recruitment and retention crisis, adding it is “damaging” to children.
At the union’s annual conference in Telford, the NAHT general secretary will say: “The Government must now come back to the table. Simply taking their bat and ball home because our members have said no is not the action of a responsible government.
“It is a demonstration of contempt for the profession and a lack of concern for children.”
