The soon to be filled post of depute director of education (quality assurance) in Glasgow may have one of the highest salaries in education in Scotland, pound;82,000, but it also has one of the least enviable remits - getting Glasgow’s schools off the bottom of every league table.
The advertisement attracted very few applicants, with only six candidates meeting the criteria. The local runners, we hear, are Richard Barron, who has been doing the job on an acting basis for three years, and Margaret Orr, the education officer for special needs.
The other hopefuls are Neil Logue, head of educational services in Angus, Neil McKechnie of West Dunbartonshire, a pre-five specialist and a leading player in Digital Communities, and John Rooney of Renfrewshire, who has a background in quality assurance. The sixth is a mystery runner from Surrey.
Local betting is as follows: Barron - evens - well regarded in the post on an acting basis; Logue - 21 - doing a similar job in Angus which had a favourable HMI report; Orr - 101 - being the only woman on the list; McKechnie - 201 - being the only Glasgow council taxpayer on the list. Bar - 501.
Good luck to all next Friday.
