An old adage says that the wolf hires himself out very cheaply as a shepherd. But under New Labour we now have the Third Way: the wolf now gets 34 per cent pay increase while the real shepherds get 2.6 per cent.
Mr Blunkett’s decision to reappoint Mr Woodhead on a grossly inflated salary reveals a deep disdain for teachers. I have never met teachers who think the Office for Standards in Education process useful to improving their practice. That it is a waste of time and money is a universally held and often declared professional opinion which has been ignored.
Schools have boards of governors to monitor them and nowadays have their results published annually with batteries of performance measures. Yet Pounds 30,000 could be spent on the needless inspection of a successful school in the same year it spends Pounds 20,000 on all its books and learning resources. Will the Audit Commission please take note even if the Government does not?
Chris Burke, 8 Healey Dell Cottages, Healey Bottoms, Rochdale
