Stopwork action by the Australian Education Union saw the government declare a student-free day, inconveniencing parents and students across the state and leading to a massive backlash.

A Facebook post on Premier Will Hodgman's page was deleted after parents lambasted the decision to close schools.

On top of the list of things not to mess with when it comes to voters, health and their children are right up there.

The government, however, was correct to make the call to close schools after the Education Department said 136 schools could not guarantee students' safety.

It would only take one child to be left unsupervised at school to cause massive problems.

Imagine if that child hurt themselves on play equipment, wandered off somewhere else and could not be found or, heaven forbid, got taken by someone else. It's not worth the risk.

Who is right and who is wrong in the stalemate is inconsequential for parents. Both sides need to get back the negotiating table and sort out the mess.

This industrial action and talks about pay freezes misses the broader issue of education in this state.

That is, Tasmania has too many schools and the education outcomes for our children are below that of other states.

The Tasmanian mentality of a school in every community and a hospital in every city is what is hurting the state financially.

We pay more for public services and get worse outcomes. That is crazy and will take a government of significant backbone to address.

When education and health account for more than half of your budget, there are few other levers the government can pull to cut costs.

What we need is a calm, dispassionate debate about the cost of education and health in Tasmania and a plan to put it on a sustainable footing.