The Corporation of London faces two charges of sex discrimination - for paying the teachers at its girls’ school less than the staff at its boys’ school and for putting a higher price on boys’ education.
The Corporation’s City of London School for Boys and the City of London School for Girls are in the heart of the capital. In at least one case a woman teacher at the girls’ school has been paid almost Pounds 7,000 a year less than a male teacher with comparable experience at the City of London School.
Her union, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, is now planning to take the case to an industrial tribunal.
The Equal Opportunities Commission is also considering whether the corporation’s adoption of lower fees for girls, thus valuing their education below boys, infringes the Sex Discrimination Act 1975.
Most of the teachers at the boys’ school are men and most of the teachers at the girls’ school are women. The 1994 pay scale for the girls’ school started at Pounds 13,496 and went up to Pounds 21,905; the boys’ school started at Pounds 17,892 and went up to Pounds 28,728. Each school has a separate board of governors.
The Corporation’s defence is that the schools operate in “different commercial markets”. The fees provide the income for teachers’ pay. While the boys’ school charges Pounds 1,944 a term, the girls’ fees are Pounds 1,698 a term. The Corporation claims it cannot raise the girls’ fees and remain competitive with other private schools in the London area.
The Corporation argues that boys’ schools historically have higher fees. This was confirmed by David Woodhouse of the Independent Schools Information Service. He said: “Boys’ schools have traditionally been a little more expensive.”
The Corporation has agreed to introduce a similar salary structure in all three of its schools, but says any increases will have to be funded from fees. According to Elizabeth Rodgers, chairman of the governors, in a letter to the staff at the girls’ school: “I am pleased that the introduction of a common pay structure is welcomed by the teaching staff. Whilst also understanding your wish for immediate parity of pay this is not feasible due to impact on fees.”
Sheila Cooper, general secretary of the Girls’ Schools Association, said she had no concrete evidence but suspected there may be discrepancies between other boys’ and girls’ schools.
She said: “The excuses that people are prepared to pay more to have their sons educated, or boys’ schools have better facilities, or women are not the main bread winner are getting rather thin these days.”
