More than 90% of members from the National Union of Teachers have voted to hold a one-day strike on 5th July to protect pay, cuts in school budgets and the ongoing workload crisis.

The action is the next step in the union's long-running dispute with the government and will affect all schools in England and Wales. NUT deputy general secretary Kevin Courtney said: "The NUT is not taking action lightly. There is already a teacher recruitment and retention crisis in our schools. In light of the huge funding cuts to schools, worsening terms and conditions, and unmanageable and exhausting workloads, teachers cannot be expected to go on without significant change”. "The effects on children's education are also real and damaging”. "As a result of school funding cuts, class sizes in primary and secondary schools are increasing, subject choices are being cut, and children are getting less individual attention as teachers and support staff are made redundant or not replaced when they leave."

The last national teachers strike, in July 2014, over teachers' pay, pensions and working conditions were highly disruptive to both parents and children, as around a fifth of schools across England and Wales were forced to close. Teaching unions have complained that schools have not been fully funded to meet extra costs of pay, pension and National Insurance costs passed on by the government. The union is calling for an increase in funding to schools and education, and to resume negotiations on teacher contracts to allow workload to be addressed. A stressed teacher simply cannot be expected to perform and in the long run it will not only be teachers but also today's children who will suffer the consequences.