Perpetua,

A school administrator is a teacher, but the debate has been presented as one of rewarding teachers who stay in the classroom. It is often said that if teachers want to earn extra money they have to leave the classroom and take on administrative and leadership positions. This is true. My point is that it is perfectly logical to pay more to those who take on administrative and leadership positions because the effect of their administration and leadership will be felt across the school, not just in a single classroom.

I do not believe in reducing education to tests, but I will use tests as an example because doing so will simplify my point. Imagine a really good teacher who can achieve a five per cent improvement in the tests results of 25 students in, say five classes. Compare that with a really good subject co-ordinator whose leadership can produce a one per cent improvement in tests results across the whole school. In the first case, 125 students are five per cent better off. In the second case, maybe 800 students are better off, even though it is by only one per cent each.

In essence, I am pointing to the complexity of education where the results of one teacher are affected by the work of other teachers, including those in leadership positions in the school.

An outstanding classroom teacher may end up being a poor subject coordinator and an average classroom teacher may end up being a very good level coordinator. The jobs require different skills. Being an outstanding classroom teacher does not make a greater contribution to education overall than being an outstanding leader.