Teachers have formally rejected the latest offer on pay at a meeting with councils and the Scottish Government.
The move comes after members of the Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) voted last week to reject the bid.
The EIS will now move to hold a ballot on industrial action, but they have also agreed to continue talks with councils and the Government.
Larry Flanagan, general secretary of the EIS, said: “At the meeting we presented the recent EIS ballot result, and indicated our intended move to a statutory ballot for strike action.
Read more: Teachers to open strike ballot
“This provides clear evidence of the need for the other parties to improve the offer in order to gain acceptance from teachers.
“We also reiterated that the EIS is continuing to seek a negotiated settlement, that we were willing to meet at any time, and that strike action would be a last resort.”
The latest offer from the Scottish Government and council umbrella body Cosla was three per cent from April last year with a further three per cent from January, an additional three per cent in April and another three per cent in April next year.
In recognition of concern over problems in the recruitment and retention of teachers Cosla has also agreed to back a restructuring of wider pay scales and took at pay for promoted teachers.
Read more: How likely are school strikes over pay
However, teaching unions had campaigned for an immediate 10 per cent rise for all staff arguing salaries have fallen behind over the past decade. More than 40 per cent of EIS members voted to back the deal, but 57 per cent rejected it.
Gail Macgregor, resources spokeswoman for council umbrella body Cosla, said: “We are committed to continuing to try and achieve a negotiated settlement.
“This is very much Cosla’s position and the reason that we are prepared to meet again next week.”
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