TUC head to slam Conservative government for not valuing school leadership
“Every child deserves a good education. This takes leadership, and we are all grateful to head teachers, assistants, deputies and school business leaders for the incredible job they have done leading schools through difficult times.
“But their job has been made far harder by this Conservative government. School buildings are falling apart, pay has been driven down, and teachers are being driven out. And during the pandemic, instead of supporting schools they attacked and insulted the whole teaching profession.
“The Tories just don’t understand the value of school leadership. Since 2010, pay for head teachers has been slashed by 20%, and that is pushing good leaders out of the profession.
“We can’t go on like this. We need a government that respects school leaders and that invests more in our schools so that every child can flourish.”
NAHT General Secretary Paul Whiteman will also deliver a speech today at 4.15pm. For further details about the NAHT conference taking place on 3 and 4 May in Newport, and for media credentials, contact the NAHT press team: www.naht.org.uk/News/Latest-comments/Press-room
- School leader wages: The figure for the change to head teacher pay since 2010 comes from analysis by NAHT based on the L1 pay point.
- Teacher staffing crisis: TUC analysis published on 19 April found that nearly nine in 10 local authorities have seen a rise in teacher vacancy rates since 2010. Along with the analysis the TUC published findings from a poll showing that nearly two-fifths of education staff have already taken steps to leave their profession to get a job in another field, or are actively considering it. Full details are here: https://www.tuc.org.uk/news/nearly-nine-10-local-authorities-have-seen-rise-teacher-vacancy-rates-2010-tuc-analysis
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