As one of Brighton and Hove's 1,000 teaching asisstants, I was saddened and angered that parent Jill Blackwell has branded us "selfish" (The Argus, November 24) and feels all the excellent work we do for the good of the children in our LEA and the respect we earn for this, can be "ended with a stroke".

Clearly this lady is upset by the strike action and angered by the inconvenience it is causing.

We all thought long and hard about striking. We care deeply for the children we work with. Much of our job carries a pastoral role and we regret enormously that this dispute has to affect the children but, if it did not cause disruption, there would hardly be any point in striking.

That many schools have had to close as a result of this action should be a clear indication to parents and council members of just how much our work is relied upon in the city's schools.

The council says these measures have been brought about to bring us in line with all "non-teaching" staff within schools.

I defy any parent or member of the council to spend a day working with me in school and tell me that I do not "teach" the children for whom I have responsibility.

The regrading of our jobs, which was heralded as a "new and innovative" career structure for teaching assistants, was a farce.

Many schools graded teaching assistants on the lowest grade they could get away with to save money.

The responsibility for any pay rise is incumbent upon the individual schools.

In the midst of much anger about the way this was handled, the council then advised that teaching assistants would now receive a reduction in the weeks they are paid for in a year.

For the majority this means five to six weeks less. For too long now, we've been viewed as a "Mum's Army", mothers who, because it fits in with having a family, come to work to fill paint pots, keep the classroom displays looking good and listen to children read.

While this may have been the case several years ago, the work we are now required to do is far more sophisticated and requires us to have a professional input into the education of the children.

Teaching assistants are asking for proper recognition of this fact and a fair wage for the valuable and committed work we do.

I would like to say to parents across Brighton and Hove who have been affected by this strike (and I am one of those parents) it is with deep regret it has come to this.

We want this dispute to end swiftly so we can get back to the work we do, not because it's convenient to us as mothers (and in some cases fathers) and we like the school holidays but because we are dedicated professionals who care about the education of the children in our schools.

-Amanda Entwistle, Hove