Around 300 teachers are expected to attend a rally at the Tamworth Regional Entertainment and Conference Centre (TRECC), with local public schools warning there will be minimal supervision for students on the day.

NSW Teachers' Federation country organiser Mercurius Goldstein said members are taking action for one day to secure a commitment from the NSW government to fully staff all schools.

"We believe as a profession we won't let our students go through their whole schooling lives with teacher shortages," he said.

"That is what parents and community members rightfully expect, it is the right of every child to have a public education available to them in their community, in their neighbourhood and to be taught by a qualified teacher every day.

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"The NSW government has made no effort to address the unsustainable workloads and uncompetitive salaries that have led to growing teacher shortages across NSW, and certainly for Tamworth, Gunnedah, Narrabri and all around the region."

The Department of Education confirmed earlier in the year there were 1000 vacancies across the state, but Mr Goldstein said since then, the vacancies have doubled.

"There are now 2000 vacant positions as of mid-November from the Department's own figures, that's excluding 1,037 new positions," he said.

"We're at a point now where as many as one in 15 positions across NSW are vacant and 100,000 students are being taught by teachers who are outside of their subject area or qualifications."

Teachers and principals are also seeking a salary increase of between 5 to 7.5 per cent a year.

In a letter to teachers and parents, the Department of Education said it is doing "all it can to resolve the dispute with the federation".

The department has called on the federation and its members to comply with the Industrial Relations Commission's (IRC) order and not strike," Education Secretary Georgina Harrisson said.

The department is still negotiating with the federation on their claims and the place for this is in the IRC.

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