A County Durham teacher has slammed the government’s latest pay offer as “insulting”.

Teachers in England will strike on April 27 and May 2 after 98% of National Education Union (NEU) teacher members voted to reject the Government’s pay offer.

A £1,000 one-off payment for the current school year (2022/23) and an average 4.5% rise for staff next year (2023/24) had been on the table, but the NEU said the deal was not fully funded.

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Laura Beckham, a teacher at an oversubscribed special needs school in Consett, County Durham said: “The education system is in crisis. Schools need more funding.”

Speaking about the school she works in, Ms Beckham said: “You walk into the school and you can see wheelchairs and stand aids and all the equipment.

“There isn’t enough room for them in the classroom, they have to go in the corridor. We are desperate for a new building but the Send (special educational needs and disabilities) funding is just atrocious.”

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On the Government’s pay offer, Ms Beckham said: “When it comes to funding in schools, the fact that it wasn’t a funded increase was just insulting. Particularly to schools that are already struggling.

“If it is an unfunded pay rise, I am going to lose teaching assistants. I can’t afford to lose teaching assistants.”

Ms Beckham, who has considered leaving teaching due to pay and workload pressures, said her son “gets upset” when she has to work until 11pm.

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The 32-year-old, who has moved in with her parents amid financial pressures, said: “When it came to getting on the housing ladder, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to do it.

“So the best option I had was to stay with my parents. I couldn’t afford childcare so I do rely on my parents quite a lot for childcare.”

It came as the NEU held its annual conference in Harrogate on Monday (April 3).