ABSTRACT
Anyone who believes that dealing with allegations of incompetence is easy for head teachers should think again. It may seem a simple matter-if the school has teachers who are not performing properly, just identify them, give them a chance to improve, and if they fail to improve, dismiss them-but it is not. Heads have several responsibilities: to their pupils, first and foremost, but also to their colleagues for whom they are the senior line manager. They must act within employment law, otherwise they could be liable for an unfair dismissal suit, which might cost the school a great deal of money. Furthermore, in order to be fair to all concerned and act within the law, they may have to expend a great deal of time and energy, the very elements normally in short supply for those in a busy job. Bridges (1992) describes one teacher in his study as being a ‘three Morgan job’. A ‘Morgan’ is a box for holding legal papers which is about 12 inches wide, so the correspondence and paperwork for a single case was 36 inches in width.
