by political editor Paul Francis

Teaching unions have blasted plans to publish school sickness rates, salaries and staff qualifications - claiming they're pointless and potentially misleading.

Education secretary Michael Gove says the reforms will give parents much more detail about how schools are performing.

But heads and others say they are ill-conceived and parents already have the information they need to make judgements about the performance of schools.

Robert Straker, Kent representative of the NAHT, said: "If you want to drive up standards, you do not have to say what the dinner ladies are earning.

"That is information overload. I suspect that many people already know howe we spend our money.

"Much of the information is already out there. It really is a smokescreen."

Schools had no say in the amount they got to spend as budgets were based as they were allocated money according to pupil numbers and other factors, he added.

John Walder, Kent representative of the NUT, was scathing. "Parents are interested in a school’s ability to provide a good education but there is already an immense amount of evidence by which they are judged available."

Parents could not measure the quality of teaching based on the qualifications of staff, he added.

"Having a double first from Oxford does not make you a good teacher.

"And I do not think there is a link between what a teacher is paid and how good they are.

"There are plenty of newly-qualified teachers who do an excellent job."

Under the reforms, schools will have to disclose annual absence rates, salary details and the number of staff with A-levels, degrees and postgraduate qualifications.

There will also be a new national curriculum from 2013 and every six-year-old will be tested for their reading ability to identify those struggling after a year at primary school.