Teachers close in on long-awaited pay deal THE new teachers' pay deal is a step closer to being finalised after passing a major milestone tonight. Almost 80 per cent of Australian Education Union members have voted in support of the in-principle agreement meaning the ratification process is complete. A ballot must now be put to all government school principals, teachers and support staff. Principals and union sub-branch representatives are expected to convene a meeting in their school in the week commencing June 3. The Education Department will be notified of the final result of the ballot by June 7. Agreement would signal an end to a bitter industrial saga which stretched more than two years and brought schools statewide to a standstill.