More than 37,000 people have signed an open letter backing striking teachers ahead of a national walkout. Many also sent heartfelt messages of support and shared their experiences as parents and grandparents.
Nearly 9,000 people have added a personal note to the online letter launched by campaign group 38 Degrees and the National Education Union (NEU). Among them are messages from parents and grandparents sharing their experience - and saying they are backing industrial action despite the disruption it will cause them.
Walkouts by teacher members of the National Education Union (NEU) in England and Wales will take place on Wednesday – the first of seven days of strikes in February and March. The strikes come amid a pay dispute and threaten disruption to more than 23,000 schools this week.
The open letter, signed "The British Public", said: "To all striking teachers, we thank you for all you do to give the next generation the best start in life. Whilst we don’t want to see you forced to strike, we realise you have been left in an impossible situation, as your pay is cut, colleagues leave in droves, not enough qualified staff are recruited, burnout is rife, buildings crumble and you aren’t given the pay deal you deserve.
"We don’t blame you for this decision, we blame the Government for putting you in this position. We urge the Education Secretary, Chancellor and Prime Minister to get round the table with teaching unions now, and give you the pay deal you deserve, so you can get back to doing what you do best: giving our next generation the education that they deserve.
"Thank you for all that you do."
Messages of support came from parents and grandparents including Mary Davidson in Berwick, Northumberland. She said: "I know that striking is the last thing that you want to do, but this Government has left you no other option. I shall be looking after my granddaughter on strike days, so her parents can work. I support your action despite the burden on me."
Michael O’Neil from Newcastle said: "As a father of six children under the age of 11, I wholeheartedly support you for fighting for better conditions, to enable you to support parents to give their children a better start in life." Meanwhile Sophia Stravoravdis of Woking in Surrey said: "As a parent, I support teachers striking to bring their pay and conditions up to 2023 standards, and to encourage graduates into teaching jobs.
"It's a challenging and socially important job, a teacher is a frontline worker who should be afforded the security the role deserves. Thanks for teaching our kids and well done for sticking up for yourselves!”
Danny Smith from Penrith in Cumbria said: "You're not inconveniencing people. The point is that you're standing up for the quality of education our children get. As a parent, I understand and support this action."
Veronica Hawking, head of campaigns at 38 Degrees, said: “As a parent, I see how hard teachers work, day in, day out, to give our children the best possible start in life.
“I know that teachers across the country want to be in the classroom, not on the picket lines. But I also know that they’ve been left in an impossible position by the Government. With people leaving the profession in droves, classrooms crumbling, and schools struggling to recruit qualified staff, teachers have been left with no choice but to take a stand, for themselves and for their pupils.
“The disruption to our children’s education over the past few years has been worrying and exhausting - no parent relishes the thought of even more lost days. But unless the Government gets around the table to give teachers the pay deal they deserve, children across the country won’t be getting the education that they deserve."
The Department for Education has offered a 5% pay rise to most teachers for the current school year, but the NEU is demanding a fully funded above-inflation pay rise for teachers. Support staff in Wales, who are members of the NEU, will also take part in the action.
Teacher members of the NEU in sixth form colleges in England, who have already been balloted and taken strike action in recent months, will join the walkouts in a separate but linked dispute.
