Thousands of pupils in England are facing school closures or disruption as the National Union of Teachers stages a one-day strike over funding.
The union’s acting leader Kevin Courtney said school budgets were not keeping pace with rising costs.
The NUT is organising regional marches and rallies in support of the strike, which is also about pay and workloads.
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan said the strike was “unnecessary” and “harmful”.
Of 210,458 ballot papers issued, 51,530 were returned – a turnout of 24.5%. Of those who voted, 91.7% supported strike action.
Union officials claimed teachers across England were “solidly” supporting the 24-hour strike and would join rallies and marches later in the day.
Hundreds of schools across the country have been affected either closing completely or teaching “reduced subjects”, the NUT said.
- In Liverpool and Cheshire, over 130 schools are closed and around 240 are partially closed
- Across Greater Manchester 270 schools are closed or have reduced staffing
- In Oxfordshire, 38 schools are closed or partially closed
- In Hampshire, Portsmouth, Southampton and the Isle of Wight, 81 schools are affected
- Dorset, Bournemouth and Poole have reported 44 schools affected by the strike
Mr Courtney said “teachers do not take strike action lightly” and he “wholeheartedly apologised” for disruption to parents.
“The problems facing education, however, are too great to be ignored and we know many parents share our concerns,” he added.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “Class sizes are going up. We are being told of schools where there will be classes of 35 in September. Art, dance and drama teachers are being made redundant or not being replaced when they leave; individual attention for children is going down.
“This is all happening because the government is not allowing school budgets to keep pace with inflation. They are freezing the cash per pupil they give to schools.”
