Ministers should give teachers the power to fine parents if they do not engage with the school to tackle an “epidemic” of bad behaviour, according to the thinktank led by Tony Blair.
Educators should have the same legal powers they have over non-attendance to compel parents to turn up to meetings with the school and agree an action plan for their child, the Tony Blair Institute (TBI) says in a new report.
They also say teachers should be able to escalate cases to the police, NHS and social services if they do not.
The report argues that teachers are well placed to spot the warning signs for deeper rooted problems, and that granting them more of a role in safeguarding would give them control over their classroom, improving learning and results for pupils, and addressing the teacher recruitment and retention crisis.
Alexander Iosad, the institute’s director of government innovation, said the report “shows that teachers are powerless and unsupported to tackle a rising epidemic of disruptive and dangerous behaviour”.
He said: “We must shift the balance of authority back in favour of teachers and give them the support they need.
“We have heard time and time again about the challenges of teacher retention, yet almost nothing about the hidden crisis driving their exit. For any other career, a safe, non-disruptive environment is the bare minimum.”
However, school leaders fear this could be counterproductive, by increasing pressure on teachers and their workloads, and potentially souring relations between schools and parents. Instead, they urge more funding for social care and other support for struggling families and children.
The analysis of data, compiled by Edurio and Opinium for the TBI, suggests that more than half of teachers struggle to access support for dealing with student behaviour, while fewer than one in 10 believe their school always enforces the rules. More than two-thirds say that lessons are regularly disrupted by poor behaviour.
The report notes that persistent disruption contributes to teacher burnout, with recent Department for Education (DfE) analysis finding that teachers who said their pupils behaved poorly being almost twice as likely to consider leaving within a year as those with better-behaved classrooms (37% v 21%).
It also cites evidence suggesting that pupils and teachers are concerned about personal safety, and that this has an impact on attainment and aspiration. A recent Teacher Tapp poll found that a more than one-third of teachers had experienced physical abuse from pupils. Seven in 10 children who felt unsafe at school said they had missed at least one day in the previous month, making it the biggest absence predictor, according to a survey of 1,000 pupils conducted for the report.
Pepe Di’Iasio, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that while the report correctly identifies that schools are facing increasingly challenging behaviour from some students, he is concerned that the policy would “create a significant additional burden on schools and exacerbate tensions with parents”.
Instead, he suggested improving access for children to specialist support “so that problems can be dealt with at an early stage before they escalate” and boosting funding for pastoral support in schools.
Paul Whiteman, the general secretary at the school leaders’ union NAHT, said the report was “well-meaning” but “misguided and unworkable” with “alarmist language”.
“We must not lose sight of the fact that the large majority of children are well behaved and engage with school positively,” he said, adding that it would be better for the government to focus on “rebuilding those agencies that have become depleted”.
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “As we deliver our plan for change, we will break down barriers to opportunity and tackle the root causes of poor behaviour … But we know there is more to do, and we will continue to work closely with teachers on how we can further support them to drive-up standards for all our children.”
