I noted in your Jobs section (The TES, September 12) that the headship of a very large comprehensive in the south of England was being advertised at a salary of pound;120,000. I have worked in education for 37 years with some outstanding educators and leaders, none of them would have deserved such a salary and indeed none got such a salary. I do not accept the argument that when compared with the obscene salaries of executives in the private sector, such a figure is reasonable.

The headteacher of such a school will be backed up by a skilled team of deputies, heads of department, teachers, support staff and governors, who between them will take on huge amounts of the responsibility and form a vast reservoir of expertise.

This is a gross waste of taxpayers’ money. If I was making national policy and governors made such a financial decision, the school’s budget would be cut to compensate for the harm they had done to the creation of a just society.

David Cross, Leicester.