Parents urged to help teachers win battle over pay and jobs

As schools struggle to find staff for key roles, heads tell families to demand action from their MPs and to back strikers

Parents are being called on to help teachers in their fight for a pay rise as unions try to win the public relations battle against the government over next month's strikes.

With thousands of schools across England and Wales set to close in February after teachers voted to strike, the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) union has told the Observer that it is working with Parentkind, the umbrella group for parent-teacher associations in schools, and with school governors to get parents to lobby backbench Conservative MPs on the crisis in recruiting and retaining teachers.