ASCL launches consultative ballot for national industrial action

Today marks an unprecedented step in ASCL’s history, as they open the first consultative ballot for national industrial action

ASCL’s consultative ballot follows a period of extensive consultation including surveys, meetings, and webinars, where they heard the strength of their members’ feelings about the continued underfunding of education and the major consequences this is having both for ASCL members and for the children and young people they serve. This underfunding is exacerbating the already alarming teacher and leader recruitment and retention crisis, through hampering schools’ ability to recruit and retain a sufficient quantity and quality of support staff, teachers, and leaders due to financial restrictions and uncompetitive terms and conditions.

Most importantly, this underfunding is compromising the ability of schools and colleges to provide the education and care to which children and young people are entitled – particularly as they begin to emerge from the pandemic.

As an organisation which speaks on behalf of members and acts on behalf of children and young people, the ASCL cannot sit back and let this continue.

Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “While yesterday’s extra money is welcome, it comes in the context of a decade of real-terms cuts and a teachers’ pay award this year which is both inadequate to improve recruitment and retention and unaffordable because there isn’t enough money for schools to be able to pay it. We will now be asking members to participate in our consultative ballot and guide our next steps.”

All members eligible to vote in ASCL’s consultative ballot received their voting link this morning and will have until December 16th to cast their vote.