Storm brews after council advertises jobs worth £70k - while staff face redundancy
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by
political editor Paul Francis
County education chiefs have defended plans to recruit a dozen
senior school officers on salaries of up to £70,000 each, insisting
the appointments are key to lifting classroom standards in primary
schools.
Kent County Council said the proposals represented an important
element of its drive to improve standards and that the decision,
which will cost the taxpayer more than £900,000, was backed by
teachers.
But it has come under fire from opposition parties at County
Hall, who said it smacked of more bureaucracy and questioned the
salaries being offered.
Recruitment advertisements for the posts say KCC is looking for
twelve district heads of primary standards and school improvement,
each on salaries of between £67,000 and £70,000. In addition, the
authority is looking to recruit a head of standards and school
improvement for all schools, advertised on a salary of up to
£77,000.
The recruitment comes as the council is in the middle of
consulting over plans to slash 260 jobs in the children’s services
department to save £8m.
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In a statement, county councillor Jenny Whittle, Conservative
deputy cabinet member for children, families and education, said
improving primary school standards was a high priority.
Cllr Whittle said: "Improving Key Stage
2 performance for children in years three to six is a high priority
for the council and worthy of this investment. Kent County Council
wants all children to finish primary school with the knowledge and
skills they need for a successful time at secondary school."
The posts were the result of combining the work of other jobs
that "are being removed from our current services."
She added: "It will provide streamlined and focused working with
Kent primary schools to improve achievement for the county’s
primary school children."
The plans had been discussed with both primary and secondary
headteachers, she said.
Opposition Liberal Democrat spokesman Cllr Martin Vye said: "We
were aware these posts were being considered but not the salaries.
It does seem very strange to me that they are halving the size of
the schools advisory service and appear to be creating a senior
management level team. It sounds ominously like more money being
spent on administration."
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Wednesday, June 02 2010
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