Department for Education officials are “pessimistic” about the prospect of more money for schools, with chances of a better pay deal next year also “gloomy”, a union leader has said after talks aimed at averting a teacher strike.
ASCL general secretary Geoff Barton said the six-hour talks with DfE advisers were “constructive”, but said officials “cannot make any political decisions and it is political decisions that are needed to avert strikes and address the teacher recruitment and retention crisis”.
Teachers in the National Education Union are due to stage six days of strike action in England in February and March after winning a ballot of members.
The NASUWT teaching union and NAHT headteachers’ union are also considering a re-ballot of their members after failing to reach the 50 per cent turnout threshold needed to make action legal.
