Is the fact that many of England's schools are closed today not newsworthy?

[Lonelyplanet]

If it was a snow day it would be on all the front pages.

However school funding issues that have become so bad that the majority of teachers are taking action and refusing to work, doesn't appear to be of any consequence. Do people really care that little about the state of our education system, or are we being manipulated yet again by the press?

Y8 DC at home, Y11 at school. Most of the other secondary schools in our area are open and non-striking teachers at our school are setting work and teaching on Zoom. DC Y8 has a full day of zoom, so his teachers not striking and it's frustrating that he's not in school. He and I have no appetite for zoom.
Not enough schools affected, not enough parents affected and I am getting tired of it now.
I have lobbied my MP, who said teachers have already turned down an "excellent" pay rise so he's not prepared to do any more. He did not refer to my point about the pay rise being unfunded.
I am afraid that the teachers will end up quietly going back to work, or making plans to leave teaching.
Long term, we are screwed.

Of course it doesn’t (and shouldn’t replace) govt funding . But it is a way that we can make a direct difference to our schools. Just takes a bit more effort then ousting on Mumsnet.

we are in a mixed area and we made sure that we put on events that were accessible and attractive to all.

The oldest excuse in the book. Too busy, no time.

I simply do not believe that 95% of parents in a school do not have a few spare hours a year to man a stalk/do face painting or even work in the evening manning the facebook.

the problem is then that those parents who do step up do everything …. Then it becomes overwhelming and they leave. Rather then the workload being spread.

Please can you point out where I have it’s the solution?

One of the best things about moving from state to private was getting away from the PTA tbh.

Selfishly I am glad DS is coming near the end of his time in school. If I had children just starting their school journey I would be so worried for them.

Although I am sure some parents are aware of the issues in the education system, I don't know whether they are aware how big a crisis it is

Oh they don’t do anything anymore. The teachers stopped organising anything long ago due to parents behaviour at things. There are no events, not even a cake sale here and there.

I genuinely think this is unlikely. For these two strike days, the NEU has agreed special dispensation for teachers to go in and support Y11/13, and so the impact on secondary schools will be reduced. That doesn't mean it'll be reduced on future strike days.

Equally, in my area, we have more primary teachers on strike than before, we have more pickets at primary schools than before, and it's primary school closures that have the real economic impact.

More people voted against the pay offer (and a higher percentage) than in the NEU indicative ballot in the autumn. Plus ASCL and NASUWT are planning to reballot. If they are successful, (And I hope NASUWT have learnt from their mistakes last time around) then it's very likely we will see a lot more full school closures in the autumn term.

If NASUWT are coming out too, it will reinvigorate NEU strikes, as well.

The Tories hope this is all going to go away quietly, but it's not.

They didn't want to negotiate before, but NEU strikes alone brought them to the table. If ASCL and NASUWT strike too, then the government will have no choice but to negotiate again.

Our son's secondary had a "Friends of" which raised tens of thousands of pounds, and that was in a run down Northern deprived town. Of course it's not the "answer" to school funding problems, but it certainly helped, and the proceeds were spent on "non academic" things such as lighting & sound equipment for the school plays, sports equipment and kit for the school sports teams, a 3d printer and laser cutter for the tech labs. The head would tell the PTA what they needed and the PTA would raise the funds. They even ran a school "shop" for a couple of hours on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings to sell second hand uniform, books, calculators, etc. They also did the tea/coffee/biscuit stall on open days, parents evenings, etc.

Just because it's not a "perfect World" solution doesn't mean that people shouldn't do it when it's necessary. After all, in theory, charities shouldn't exist, but in reality, they are needed!

As an individual, we cannot really influence this Govt at this time in increasing school budgets, but literally today you can make a difference to your school by volunteering to be on the PTA and asking the Chair how you can help raise much needed funds.

This is what you said, and actually it's very much not a helpful message. The idea that the biggest thing a parent can do is join the PTA just isn't true.

Your whole post was a complete minimisation of the problems in schools right now.

A PTA can NEVER get TAs into the classroom. It can NEVER solve the recruitment and retention crisis. And that's the biggest problem. No point having all the shiny resources in a science lab, and no qualified science teacher to use them...

And yes, there are things you can do as an individual. You can go to local rallies, you can write to your MP, you can vote against the Tories in upcoming local elections and tell them why.

If people are going to donate money, they'd be better of donating to their local union hardship fund.

Is having a laser cutter more important to you than having a DT teacher?

Friends of worked in the same way, we’d be asked for something and we’d fundraiser for it, it was also more gratifying working towards an aim.
our primary is still benefiting years on .

Yes you are quite right, all these things people can and should do.

they can ALSO help the pta to raise money. Right now, today.

given that most people‘haven’t got time’ to bake a cake, they likely won’t have time to attend a rally either, or write to their mp.

I have no doubt that my children have a good school and dedicated teachers but I’m increasingly concerned about what ‘good’ looks like in state sector. They are hardly at school any time. Home before 3pm. Low level disruption in class in every lesson, frequent substitute teachers. Homework set but child now refuses to do it as no consequences for not handing it in. This is the 5th day they’ve lost to strikes this year because of Covid.

Surely if there’s one place state investment would pay dividends it’s education?

Funny how this is a more prominent story on the BBC:

BBC News - Train drivers to strike again on FA Cup final day
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65410800

Difficulty getting to to the FA cup final is more important than our children. (And by the way I am in support of the train drivers).

The BBC covered it on Breakfast this morning. They interviewed one of the union reps on the picket line. No idea whether the schools are open or closed around here though. I passed the local secondary school shortly after 9.00am and the car park looked pretty full and there was no sign of a picket line so looks like it's open. Our local primary has been open throughout the strike action. So not everywhere is affected.

The School PTA or Friends of are fantastic organisations but should have nothing to do with the funding of staff pay or adequate resourcing of a school. They are there for the lovely extras (which are greatly appreciated).

Everyone involved in schools are affected by inadequate funding.

Surely if there’s one place state investment would pay dividends it’s education?

Quite

@Lonelyplanet I agree entirely about school funding but was referring to children being at home and the effect on parents.

i Have heard it mentioned but agree not a massive news story. That’s what happens over time though as media/ people lose interest.
my own child’s school is closed but he is having zoom lessons so not a massive impact.

Incidentally, for those claiming no impact, the teacher strikes were, according to the ONS, the biggest reason that the economy showed no growth in February.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4783991-teacher-strikes-biggest-drag-on-economic-growth-ons

All evidence suggests investing in education would grow the economy long term.

But I think it's clear the Tories don't care about the country as a whole or growing the economy. They care about what lines their own pockets, and what they can make money from. State education doesn't make money for them in its current form- and arguably increased social mobility caused by good state education makes it harder for their children (educated privately, of course) to stand out.

To me, it seems like the Tories want state education in its current form to collapse. Then they see opportunities to make money out of private tutoring firms etc, AND it leaves a supply of low skilled workers with less social mobility who are easier to exploit.

I know this sounds a bit conspiracy theory-ish, but more and more people in education are saying they see the future of education under the Tories as 90 kids in a hall watching Oak Academy, with unqualified TAs solely there to manage behaviour.

And before someone trots out the specious argument that 'schools aren't childcare', it is a fact that the UK economy is for a large part structured around parents juggling their work hours around school hours; and that they are encouraged and in some cases required to do this.

Hence the detrimental impact of school closures on the UK's economic performance, as @noblegiraffe observes.

Why the BBC is not all over this is quite concerning.

Oh I can quite believe it now. There are a lot of Conservative policy 'thinkers' who are re-writing the Singaporean and HK models of economic participation and social competition for the UK.

Why else put the very easily influenced Gillian Keegan in charge?