Today’s Education in the media blog looks at a letter sent by Lord Agnew regarding academy pay.
ACADEMY PAY
On Wednesday, 21 February, Lord Agnew wrote an introductory letter to the chairs of academy trusts. The letter, which draws on the Minister’s previous role as chair of a trust, covers a range of issues, including his commitment to ensuring chairs remain autonomous and the issue of academy pay. In his letter, Lord Agnew makes clear that academy pay should not increase more quickly than teachers’ pay, and should be reduced if performance at a trust is declining.
This has been reported by BBC online and was mentioned briefly on the Today Programme this morning.
Academy trusts are free to set their own salaries for staff, but we expect this to reflect the complexity and size of the leadership task, as they must deliver value for money.
All academies operate under a strict system of financial oversight and accountability, with robust intervention when things go wrong.
A Department for Education spokesperson said:
Academic standards are rising, with 1.9 million more pupils in good or outstanding schools compared to 2010 – 450,000 of those pupils study in a sponsored academy that was typically previously underperforming.
This letter recognises the vital role that chairs of academy trusts play, and will ensure we can continue to work with multi-academy trusts to improve standards for all children, wherever they are growing up.
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