By Gavin Mackintosh-
Schools across England are facing significant disruption as teachers walk out for the second time this week.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) are striking for the seventh day of national action since February, in a long-running dispute over pay.
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The union is balloting for further strike action in the autumn, which could involve co-ordinated strikes with three other education unions.
NEU teachers are striking over an above-inflation pay increase, plus extra money to ensure any pay rises do not come from schools’ existing budgets.
Many schools are expected to fully or partially close today.
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Most state school teachers in England had a 5% pay rise for the year 2022-23.
The Uk government has offered an additional one-off payment of £1,000 and also increased the offer for most teachers next year to 4.3%, with starting salaries reaching £30,000.
The Department for Education described it as a “fair and reasonable offer”, and said schools would receive an extra £2.3bn over the next two years.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, the NEU’s joint general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, called the reported offer “credible”, saying it would be the “biggest award announced by a pay review body” and “deserved for teachers”.
She said: “I think members would accept 6.5% with one major addition, which is that it would be funded.
“Schools don’t have the money to pay teachers 6.5%. We calculate there would need to be 3% on average [extra] funding for schools in order to do that.”
Asked if she feared the government could overrule the pay review body, Dr Bousted said: “Unfortunately I think that’s entirely possible. We hope that that’s not the case.”
She said autumn strike action would not happen if a fully-funded 6.5% rise was offered, saying it was “in the government’s hands”.
Education minister Robert Halfon told BBC Breakfast he could not confirm the reported 6.5% recommendation, and said he had not seen the final report.
He added that it would be “published in due course… and the government will make a decision”, adding: “We’ve got to be as fair as possible to teachers and support staff… but we also have to be fair to the taxpayer.”
He said the government would have a “very difficult choice”, saying decisions about teachers’ pay should be balanced against the fact the government has “got to spend billions of pounds helping people with the cost of living”.
A spokesperson for the Department for Education said Friday’s strike would lead end of term events to be cancelled, including Year 6 pupils’ secondary school transition days.
On pay, they said: “As part of the normal process, the independent School Teachers’ Review Body has submitted its recommendations to government on teacher pay for 2023-24.
“We will be considering the recommendations and will publish our response in the usual way.”
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