MORE than 30,000 Victorian teachers and school staff are expected to take mass strike action on Thursday in pursuit of higher pay.
About 170 schools are set to close out of about 660 primary and secondary schools taking part in the mass 24-hour strike, according to union figures.
Rallies are planned in Melbourne and regional Victoria as part of a two-year industrial dispute between the Australian Education Union (AEU) and the Victorian government.
School staff will meet at 10.30am (AEDT) at Hisense Arena in Melbourne and then march to Parliament House.
A regional rally will be held in Mildura at the same time.
The AEU estimates more than 30,000 school staff will stop work, with Victorian branch president Meredith Peace saying it is time the government put a fair offer on the table.
"Tomorrow's statewide strike will send a clear message to the state government that enough is enough and it must invest more in public education," Ms Peace said in a statement.
"Victorian teachers are now the second lowest paid in the country."
The strike will go ahead following a failed court bid last week by the Victorian government to stop it.
Ms Peace said the action was not taken lightly.
"It is crucial to ensure quality teachers, principals and education support staff remain in this state and in our profession," she said.
"It is time for the state government to treat Victoria's public school staff with the respect they deserve and resolve this dispute without further delay."
The AEU revised its offer to the government in November, offering 4.2 per cent per year over three years, but it failed to resolve the dispute.
Ms Peace said the offer was comparable to teacher salaries in NSW and South Australia and in line with the deal the Victorian government achieved with police.
Education Minister Martin Dixon will address reporters on Wednesday afternoon.
Mr Dixon said the strike action would be disappointing and disruptive to families and businesses.
"Victoria's teacher performance management system is broken, we want to fix it. That's what tomorrow's strike's about," he told reporters in Melbourne.
"We've got a system that's broken whereby the best teacher in the school is paid the same as the worst teacher. That's what we need to change and they're the sort of issues we're talking with the union about.
"We call on the union to call off the strike and work with us to fix that system."
Mr Dixon said the government is working to minimise the disruption.
Government figures show so far about 65 per cent of school staff are taking part in strike action and 300 schools will not have students, he said.
Mr Dixon said principals have told the government there will be adequate supervision put in place at schools.
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