Parents accused of undermining schools

The Government is being urged to do more to crack down on feckless parents who undermine discipline in schools and abandon its drive to boost parent power in the approach to a general election.

The Government is being urged to do more to crack down on feckless parents who undermine discipline in schools and abandon its drive to boost parent power in the approach to a general election.

Martin Ward, deputy general secretary of the Secondary Heads Association, said ministers had failed to acknowledge that some parents were aggressive towards teachers and allowed their children to roam the streets in the evenings causing trouble. Other parents allowed their offspring to work long hours in paid jobs, leaving the children too tired to study when they went to school.

Mr Ward told the union's annual conference in Brighton that a minority of parents still made the job of schools much more difficult.

He said that some parents undermined school discipline by backing their badly behaved children instead of the school. Mr Ward argued that patients did not want to run hospitals and he did not believe that parents wanted to run schools. Ruth Kelly, the Secretary of State for Education, has put the rights and role of parents at the heart of her agenda. She has outlined plans for parents to "shape the education agenda" in speeches since her appointment.

Mr Ward said: "The vast majority of parents are helpful and supportive, but it would be of enormous help ... if politicians spent as long talking about responsibilities of parents ...as they do about their rights."

Headteachers were infuriated by the Government's "mini-manifesto" on education, pledging that parents should be able to negotiate small group tuition for their children. Teachers argue that the plans would need a massive rise in school budgets and fear ministers are raising parental expectations in the run up to the general election. They say it will be schools that bear the brunt of parents' anger if they cannot deliver on these promises after the general election expected in May.