In this, as in other areas, Labour are implementing plans associated with those on the far right of educational theory. This method of determining pay scales was last used in England in the nineteenth century. From 1870 to 1895 government grants to schools and teachers' salaries were determined by the performance of children against national standards. Its reintroduction was a longstanding ambition of previous Conservative governments. At present teachers can progress up a nine-point pay scale.
Increases then depend on extra responsibility.
The new system does away with automatic increments based on experience. This will be conditional upon assessment and outside verification. In other words, the majority of teachers are to lose their right to annual increments to finance a pay increase for a minority. Even this will be at the cost of longer hours. Labour's plan for teachers is a policy of divide and rule.