Up to half of London's schools are today expected to be affected by a one-day walk out by teachers over London weighting.
The education secretary, Estelle Morris, this morning condemned the strike action, saying: "Striking will damage and disrupt children's education in London and undermine the status of teachers.
"We will continue to deliver on pay, not because of strikes, but because I value the work teachers do. A new teacher in London starting in 1997 has seen his or her pay go up 63%. Striking will achieve nothing but damage to pupils, parents and teachers themselves."
Yesterday, a survey by London's Evening Standard suggested about 1,000 of the capital's estimated 2,200 schools would have to shut or cut lessons.
NUT members were today gathering in London for a march to demonstrate against what they see as unfair London weighting for teachers. Members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the one-day stoppage against the government's decision to increase London allowances by 3.5%.
The union said payments for inner London allowance should be increased to £4,000. Teachers in inner London currently receive an extra £3,000, which the government has proposed to increase to £3,105 on April 1. Metropolitan Police officers get £6,000 a year.
Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the NUT, said the disruption to schools "sends a very clear message to the government that London allowances aren't good enough".
He added: "Teachers are only too aware of the damage to children's education that shortages in the capital are causing."
The NUT was this morning expecting 3,000 teachers to march from Lincoln's Inn Fields to Camden Town Hall.
