Thousands of children will miss school today as teaching assistants stage a two-day strike over pay.

But the industrial action in Brighton and Hove has angered many parents who are facing severe difficulties finding childcare during work hours.

Many said they would have to pay high childminding costs because of today's protest.

The strike is expected to cause disruption across the city, with pickets and protests outside schools and Brighton and Hove City Council offices.

The action is expected to close at least 40 schools, with more than 9,000 children missing lessons today and tomorrow.

Most schools in the city are facing disruption on both days.

Elizabeth Dunstall, 34, of Colgate Close, Brighton, plans to invoice her daughter's school for the cost of care after she was informed she would have to pick her up at noon on both days.

The mother-of-three is employed by the city council but has been told she can only take time off work if it's as part of her annual leave, this despite the fact her child will be sent home by a school managed by the same authority she works for.

The rehabilitation assistant is among a growing number of parents who have become tired of the row over pay and just want to get on with their jobs.

Her youngest daughter, ten-year-old Holly, has learning difficulties and gets support from teaching assistants at Hertford Junior School in Lynchet Close, Brighton.

Ms Dunstall said: "I totally agree with them going on strike but I will be invoicing the school and the unions for the costs I incur.

"The work the teaching assistants do is brilliant and they are not given the recognition they deserve.

"But they have got another day off while I am being penalised. The schools have enough teacher training days as it is.

"This Government is all about getting single mothers back to work but I have to take time off work now because my daughter cannot go to school.

"The council pays my wages, so I've spoken to human resources. They are asking me to take annual leave but this is not my fault."

A council spokesman said: "We share this person's annoyance but there is virtually no chance anyone is entitled to compensation from the council.

"We have, after all, offered unions arbitration by Acas so the strike is clearly not the council's fault.

"Strike action is the union's responsibility and union officials could advise their members to call it off."

Parent Jill Blackwell, of Gordon Road, Brighton, said: "Classroom assistants used to be a valued group of people who commanded respect from children and parents alike but not any more.

"Their selfish attitude in calling this two-day strike has ended that respect with a stroke.

"The closure of my children's school, together with others across Brighton and Hove, has caused immense disruption to families.

"I will have to take time off work at short notice. For many people, this also means losing pay in the run-up to Christmas.

"My children feel badly let down that their education is being disrupted in this way and this situation has been created by the very people they have learnt to trust."

The 48-hour strike was called following a dispute over new pay and working arrangements for 1,000 classroom assistants.

The GMB and Unison unions, representing more than 700 of the teaching assistants in the area, has accused the council of attempting to impose pay cuts on their members.

The council says there are real pay rises for all but ten per cent of staff.

It had written to teaching assistants offering them one-off bonuses of up to £450 in an effort to resolve the dispute.

The offer came on top of an overall package the council said was worth between £7.23 and £9.90 an hour. It would mean an increase in the total pay bill from £8.8 million to £10.5 million over three years.

Teaching assistants and their trade union representatives in the GMB and Unison remained defiant about the action.

Alex Knutson, Unison branch chairman at the council, said the union would not be able to compensate Ms Dunstall but "had every sympathy with her plight".

He said: "A high proportion of teaching assistants are parents of children at Brighton and Hove schools and will be affected themselves.

"Obviously, we regret that parents will be out of pocket. Teaching assistants thought long and hard before they took this action.

"If the council made a decent offer, there would still be no need for strike action."

Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, called on the council to ditch its "penny-pinching attitude".

He also warned other authorities to start paying teaching assistants more or face similar disruption in schools across the country.

He said: "Unison will fight any attempt by councils to make teaching assistants pay for new terms and conditions out of their own pockets.

"It is totally unreasonable, unjust and unnecessary to subvert a national agreement by making staff take on additional responsibilities for less money."

The unions estimate half of all primary, junior and infant pupils will be sent home today, while secondary schools may also be affected.

A mass protest will be held outside Brighton Town Hall as union members and their supporters try to drown out a meeting of the full council.

Unions recently agreed with the Government that classroom assistants should take on a higher profile role in lessons, in part to help free-up qualified teachers' time.

The agreement meant many classroom assistants would get pay rises to reflect their new roles.

But unions said the council was trying to get round this by cutting the number of hours staff are paid to work.

The council insists the pay rises would not be cancelled out by reducing hours.

A spokesman said: "We are paying them more than East or West Sussex, who are our neighbouring authorities.

"We are baffled as to why the strike should start here."

He said the council wanted to have further discussions but unions had so far refused.

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