Pupils in affluent areas get low grades because of teachers pay deals
According to this article
“Pupils in the most affluent areas of the country get lower GCSE grades because their state schools cannot attract enough top quality teachers, a study says today.
Researchers from Bristol University claim that national teacher pay scales have “a negative impact on pupil learning” that equates, in some high cost of living areas, to every pupil dropping a grade in one of their GCSEs. The findings will rekindle the row between Education Secretary Michael Gove and teachers’ leaders over the proposed abolition of national bargaining in favour of regional pay.
Teachers’ unions have warned of industrial action if there is any attempt to move away from national pay scales – on the grounds the reforms are likely to lead to wage cuts for teachers in deprived inner city areas, where the cost of living is lower. The School Teachers’ Review Body, an independent body appointed by the Government that reviews pay, is due to report next month. Strikes by teachers could follow if it backs regional pay and its findings are accepted by ministers.
The research by Bristol University, for the Economic and Social Research Council, warned that the current pay system “can cause difficulties in recruitment and retention [in high cost of living areas], especially of high quality workers. High ability teachers might decide to leave the profession, move within the profession to a region where their relative wage is higher or be deterred from entering teaching in the first place.”
This research demonstrates the very real challenge facing many rural schools, where the cost of living is high. It shows that ostensibly affluent areas have their own more complex challenges. It makes me reflect that to just judge a book by its cover in using simple deprivation statistics to model the needs of areas misses a whole a range of complex nuances such as those in this story. But then many Hinterland readers already knew that!!!