A pay offer for ACT public school teachers presented after more than a year of talks does not go far enough and staff will now consider their next steps, the teachers' union says.
Australian Education Union ACT branch president Angela Burroughs said an initial assessment of the first substantial offer did not do enough to fixing a staffing and workload issues.
"There has been welcome movement on some of our claims, and that progress has been hard won through the industrial action taken by our members, but the government is still not doing enough to address the staffing and workload crisis in our schools," Ms Burroughs said.
"Split and collapsed classes have become chronic due to teacher shortages. The offer makes some commitments to reduce that, but our members will need to see more detail.
"We know this is a pressing concern not only for our members, but for parents and students."
On Friday, the union said the offer included a 9 per cent increase to salaries over three years, with an extra pay rise for teachers at the top of the classroom pay scale and some school leaders.
"We welcome the recognition of our most experienced teachers, but whether the offer is acceptable for the entire membership will be a matter we discuss later today," Ms Burroughs said.
Teachers called a full-day strike for the first time in 15 years earlier this year, forcing the ACT's public schools to close for a day in June.
The union said it had made 25 claims as part of the bargaining process, of which only one covered pay.
Ms Burroughs said most teachers had been presented with the same core pay offer that public servants covered by the administrative and related classifications agreement had rejected.
"The government says this is a plan to make ACT teachers the best paid in the country. That's a bit of a tenuous claim. We need competitive salaries that attract great teachers to the ACT," she said.
The union's branch council would meet on Friday afternoon to consider the offer and determine next steps for teaching staff and school assistants.
"We have spent more than a year fighting for the improvements our public schools need. Branch council will consider later today what remains unresolved and what we need to do next," Ms Burroughs said.
Deputy Chief Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith, who also holds the education and public service portfolios, said the government would keep negotiating in good faith.
"This offer was the third we made and a genuine attempt to reach a fair and balanced agreement, with a pay rise above the projected rate of inflation over the next three years and substantial improvements in conditions," Ms Stephen-Smith said on Wednesday.
"This result comes at a time when we know workers are facing cost of living pressures and ongoing uncertainty about inflation and interest rates."
Ms Burroughs had said that offer, which covered learning support assistants, was cynical because inflation-linked payments would not come into effect until after the government expected inflation to ease.
"A whole lot of our members are impacted by this, all the school assistants who perform crucial work, particularly in inclusive ed, supporting students with disability. They are the majority of the workforce in our specialist schools. So, that revised offer is significant for them. And I'd have to say it's a shocker. It's an absolute shocker," she told ABC radio in July.
