Good teachers should get pay rises, bad teachers should not. Can you think of a less controversial proposition? Sir Michael Wilshaw, head of Ofsted, has told today’s Times that “something is wrong” with the way pay rises are awarded to teachers on the basis of length of service.
“In last year’s [Ofsted] report we said that 40pc of lessons overall were not good enough. And yet everyone is getting a pay rise. Hey! Something is wrong with the system.”
This has enraged the teachers’ unions, who negotiate the across-the-board pay rises, and they have accused Sir Michael of “war” on the profession. If there is a war, the unions are the aggressors. Their precious collective bargaining system is not fairness, but the negation of fairness. I would like there to be lots of teachers on six-figure salaries in English state schools, if they are the type who can turn a class around (or, in the case of head teachers, turn a school around.
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