Primary school principals have demanded a separate salary scale from ordinary teachers in a further sign of tension between them and their union, the INTO, writes Emmet Oliver.
In a document circulated by the Irish Primary Principals Network (IPPN), the INTO is strongly criticised for ignoring the "managerial role" of principals and simply equating the job with teaching.
The document, The Value of Leadership, questions the value of the common basic scale, which currently governs pay rates among all teachers, including principals.
"A percentage of the common basic scale as an extra allowance for principalship is no longer a reasonable and equitable basis for the remuneration of principals," it says. The comments are likely to reignite tensions between the IPPN, a professional association, which represents more than 3,000 principals and the INTO, which represents them in industrial relations matters.
The document has been sent to all IPPN members ahead of its forthcoming annual conference in Galway. The document says any attempt to portray a principal's work as "an add-on to teaching is, by definition, flawed and inadequate". A foreword to the document, written by two senior IPPN members, Mr Sean Cottrell and Mr Jim Hayes, says the remarks are not meant to "diminish other roles" in the school.
