Private school headteacher salaries - pure greed?

If you want a reputation as the best in the business, you have to pay what it takes to attract the best staff.

Head teachers should be paid the market rate, and for Eton that would be typically higher.
Market rate is £100-£140k.
Teachers are paid market rate at private schools broadly in line with the government schools, but the senior levels, deputy and head teachers seem to have money thrown at them in private schools. There should be justification for such disparities.

The prime minster's salary is held ridiculously low compared to the private sector for obvious political reasons, so probably not the best comparison.

@Gruffalowings

Paying a high salary means you are more likely to attract great staff. The Eton head’s salary is still less than £300 per child. I’m sure that parents are more than happy that around £280 of their annual fees are being spent on recruiting someone who can produce great results and a good school.

Out of interest, what are your thoughts on (state) academy heads getting paid £485k when some state schools can’t apparently afford stationery? That salary, £100k more than Eton, is funded by the taxpayer, unlike Eton which is funded by the parents.

schoolsweek.co.uk/highest-earning-academy-chiefs-annual-pay-nears-500k/#:~:text=England's%20best%2Dpaid%20academy%20trust,a%20minimum%20of%20£485%2C000.

Why is it that when discussing Winter fueL allowance, it’s Mick Jäger and MN millionaire parents that are used as the example and when it’s VAT on private schools, it’s Eton.

Neither are representative of the VAST majority of the people in the group. Most pensioners are living on modest incomes and/or state pensions and most private school heads are on a similar wage to their state sector equivalent but usually without the TPS.

Honestly, it’s getting ridiculous now. Are you a home owner or car owner OP? Shall I assume therefore that you drive a Ferrari and live in 20 bedroom mansion because clearly that’s typical
of the group!

DH used to work in a private school. The head at his last school was on a disgusting amount despite pleading poverty and asking (already badly paid) teachers to take a pay cut using fire and re-hire. 🤢

The parents there have decided, for whatever reason, the place is worth what they're being asked to pay for it. That's how all financial transactions work.

Wage collusion would drive salaries down, not up. Companies aren’t generally out to pay their staff as much as possible.

Benchmarking is common to make sure that salaries are commensurate with responsibilities and comparable roles. If Eton only paid £50k, they’d struggle to fine someone. If they paid £200k, they best candidate will go and work for one of the other top 6 instead. They’re all about the same as they don’t need to go to say, £500k to attract the talent as there’s no other comparable roles paying that.

Wage inflation has been big at the top recently. In 2020 I was promoted to a role that started at £60k. A colleague just got promoted into that same role now at £75k (non education). That’s a 25% increase in the benchmarked salary for that role in 4 years. The same has happened at more senior grades too so I expect it is market driven.

It's not fleecing, it's individuals choosing to spend their money on whatever they choose.

It's just business.

yes but I was responding to the person saying that they were all charities
Perhaps I misunderstood and they meant all the ones in the report rather than all Private schools, but it is a common misconception

The salary info posted comes from the charity commission. So they aren't private businesses!

The extra money they are getting for charging parents the full 20% has got to go somewhere.

This. And it also has no comparison to the Head of the Civil Service which is paid for by taxes.

Are you concerned about what the teachers earn? Their pay award this year? Contracted workers? Do you automatically assume they are treated fairly in these privileged settings?

has zero to do with what the head of Eton gets.

Vote for better politicians/parties. Hold them to account. Are you in a union? You just seem to have a bee in your bonnet because this is all over the news. Think about what it is you want and start lobbying your MP

Eton teachers are in the Teachers Pension Scheme still I believe so I also wonder if that big jump reflects changes to what private schools have to put in as employer contributions?

MAT CEO salaries horrify me, especially for the small MATs who seem to be playing business, but that's another story. A place like Eton with more than 1000 staff and expenditure of over 100,000,000, I just can't bring myself to care, honestly.

No, not all Private schools are charities.

It's a private school. They can pay what they like. What has it to do with you?

Wait til you find out what L9s earn at Google.

But doesn't he have to deal with all the parents of those precious little Etonians? I think he deserves his £370k personally. I'd rather clean toilets with my tongue.

I’m can’t work out what the point is that you are trying to make? What do these heads salaries have to do with state school teachers pay rises?