Primary school teachers and principals are considering a new pay offer from the Ministry of Education of three per cent a year for three years.

The New Zealand Educational Institute teachers' union says its members would vote on the offer in secret online ballots next week.

The offer followed days of negotiations and the first strike by primary teachers in 24 years last month.

Lead negotiator Liam Rutherford says the union's leaders would be making no recommendation to members about whether to accept or reject the offer.

The union says the ministry's offer included a three per cent pay rise for each year of the three-year deal.

It offered the principals of schools with fewer than 100 students a pay rise of 4.5 pe rcent, 4.5 per cent and 4.4 per cent.

The NZEI says the offer included no changes to class sizes and no additional support for children with special needs.

Liam says members would consider whether the offers addressed the learning needs of children.

"As teachers and principals we can see that the issues in our schools simply can't wait any longer and our students' learning is already being negatively affected because of the difficulty in recruiting and retaining teachers."

The union had entered negotiations with a claim for a 16 per cent pay rise over two years, special education co-ordinators in every school, and smaller class sizes.

After the 15 August strike, Education Minister Chris Hipkins says teachers' demand for a 16 percent pay rise over two years outstripped what others in the workforce received.

Chris also stated then that the government was working hard to address other concerns raised, such as teachers' workload and support for children with special needs.

At the point at which teachers went on strike, the ministry had offered increases ranging from 14 per cent over three years for new teachers through to six per cent for experienced teachers.

If the offers were rejected there would be further consultation and NZEI members would make recommendations at their annual conference in early October about the next steps.