The National Union of Teachers (NUT) is preparing to ballot its members after Easter.

The move, announced on Saturday, follows surveys of 30,000 teachers, heads and deputies in England and Wales.

Rejection of proposals

The results showed 'overwhelming' rejection of government proposals for linking teachers' pay to the performance of their pupils.

The NUT is expecting the ballot to reinforce this by resulting in a vote to boycott changes to the existing teacher appraisal system.

It will also hold a lobby of Parliament on 24 March as part of its campaign.

The union has already warned that the government will be taking a "path to confrontation" if it tries to impose performance-related pay for teachers.

The proposals, contained in the government's consultative Green Paper on modernising the teaching profession, involve awarding larger pay rises to more successful teachers.

Under the proposals, successful teachers and schools would receive achievement-related payments, with an appraisal system determining whether teachers merit an extra increase in salary.

Department concerned

The Department for Education is known to be concerned about getting the appraisal scheme to work.

Soundings it has been taking around the country show that there is a great deal of variety in how the existing appraisals are done.

"If we are going to have an appraisal scheme that works for every teacher, there will have to be training and help to introduce it so that it works fairly," one official said.

John Bangs: "The government has made a mistake"

The NUT's Deputy General Secretary, John Bangs, said members would be balloted when the government published its draft regulations for the scheme.

He said action would consist of "a refusal by members to participate in appraisals".

"It won't have any effect on children's learning or parents whatsoever. What it means is that members won't attend appraisal interviews or provide test results or documentation for appraisal purposes.

"It's a shot across the bows of the government. It's saying to them they've still got two or three weeks to reflect."

Bureaucracy

Mr Bangs said that the proposals, which the government plans to introduce in September this year, would add to bureaucracy in the teaching profession, as they would mean teachers gathering evidence to 'show how good they are'.

It would also wipe out trust among teachers, and between teachers and those appraising them.

The NUT says action will not affect pupils

He said it would be "enormously unfair", as there was a wide range of factors which affected pupils' performance, such as their social backgrounds.

"The government should be stepping back from a universally unpopular proposal. They've made a mistake. They have got to have teachers behind them."

The NUT's surveys on the Green Paper proposals also showed that members were opposed to the fast-tracking of the most talented teachers.

The General Secretary, Doug McAvoy, said: "The government said when it launched the Green Paper that it wanted to hear the views of the profession. The profession's views are clear - a resounding 'no' to the government's ideas."