Teacher pay reforms 'will cause misery'

The Department for Education said performance related pay will attract the highest performing graduates and professionals into the profession and give schools the freedom to spend their money as they see fit to meet their pupils’ needs.

It said the under the current system of automatic pay progression means there is “a poor link between a teacher’s performance and reward”.

The DfE has now published guidance and advice for headteachers on performance related pay.

Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWTunion, said:

“The Secretary of State is determined to press ahead with the reckless pursuit of changes to the national pay framework which will heap further misery onto teachers.

“The Coalition Government’s claim that its reforms to the pay system are designed to pay ‘good teachers’ more has been exposed as false by the recent decision by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to remove access to pay progression opportunities for millions of other public sector workers.

“The real intention of the changes to teachers’ pay is nothing to do with rewarding ‘good teachers’ as the Secretary of State has claimed, but is instead about extending pay depression to all teachers.

“The inconvenient truth is that the Coalition Government’s real aim is to reduce teachers’ pay in order to maximise the opportunities for schools to be run for profit, damaging children’s education into the bargain.”

Education Secretary Michael Gove said:

“These recommendations will make teaching a more attractive career and a more rewarding job.

“They will give schools greater flexibility to respond to specific conditions and reward their best teachers.

“It is vital that teachers can be paid more without having to leave the classroom.

“This will be particularly important to schools in the most disadvantaged areas as it will empower them to attract and recruit the best teachers.”