Parents of children with special needs battling to stop cuts to classroom support have won the backing of Oban Community Council.
Halving the number of additional support needs (ASN) assistants is the largest of a controversial package of savings measures proposed by Argyll and Bute Council.
The parents say the move – which would mean axing 72 posts and saving £1.4million – would lead to disruption in classrooms and affect children’s education.
The council is trying to slash its spending by £18million over the next two years.
Kirsteen Binnie, a teacher and the mother of a child with disabilities, said: “All of our children have recognised support needs. Their disabilities are not going to go away.
“My son is 13. He looks perfectly normal. He has an abnormality in his chromosomes and the way it effects him most is that he can’t speak.
“There will be less support in mainstream education, presumably what will happen is our children will be at the top of the list because their needs are so great.
“Is that fair on other children? It will put greater stress on teachers. Other children will not get the education they deserve.
“This is not just about our children it is about everyone’s children.”
The community council has now agreed to write to local authority leader Dick Walsh asking for the cut in the number of ASN assistants to be removed from the savings plans.
It has also agreed to call a public meeting at the end of the month to highlight the issue.
Community council member George Berry said: “We must give full support. We must make this public and go for it in a big way. It is obscene.”
Argyll and Bute Council has launched a consultation on the proposed cuts asking people to comment on the options. It says more cuts have been identified than are required.
Councillor Walsh said: “We would like to do all that our communities want their council to do for them, but drastically reduced funding means that this just is not possible.
“We must make savings.”