THE number of teachers and schools staff earning more than £50,000 rose by 20 per cent in the year the recession bit, newly released figures show.

An extra 65 staff, thought to be mostly headteachers, earned more than £50,000 in 2009/10, taking the total from 255 to 332 and 397 in the last three years.

Campaigners blasted the move as unacceptable – but a headteachers’ leader said the senior staff were worth the cash.

Bosses would only reveal cash in salary bands of £5,000, paid out from the 12 months from April 2009.

If teachers earned the minimum in each band then this would increase the wage bill by £4.5m to £22.9m. The figure is, however, likely to be higher.

Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “The number of school staff who are getting pay and perks worth more than £50,000 shouldn’t be going up at a time like this.

"Taxpayers will be shocked that so many workers are earning such large sums, and that yet again this figure is rising.

“George Osborne made it very clear in the emergency budget that there will be big cuts in the public sector, and overpaid school staff must be ready to take some of the pain.”

But James Gillard, county secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the salaries were honouring agreements made when staff joined or were reviewed.

He said: “They are worth the money. If they fulfil the criteria set by the governing body then they go through an incremental rise.”

The size of the school was a major factor in considering salaries, he said, and senior staff had ‘huge responsibilities’.

Annette Pryce, county secretary for the National Union of Teachers, said the top earners were a ‘small minority’ of schools staff.

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She said: “In this kind of area, where it is really hard to recruit good senior leaders, they sometimes have to pay them a bit more.

“But there does come a point when a question has to be raised as to how much is too much. There really should be a limit, because it is public money.”

The number of staff at Buckinghamshire County Council on more than £50,000 fell, from 197 to 189, though the wage bill for these went up by a minimum £55,000 as staff moved into higher wage brackets.

It comes after the number of top earners rose from 163 in 2007/08.

Chief executive Chris Williams got £207,000 with £4,535 ‘benefits in kind’ and a £47,333 pension contribution.

Seven boss got a total £1,103,023 in salaries, benefits and pension contributions.

The authority has long said it is under-funded and has warned of major cuts following a squeeze on Government spending.

These include plans to close nine in ten day centres and its in-house Swan Rider bus service for OAPs and people with learning disabilities. A private firm would provide the service instead.

Chancellor George Osborne announced a pay freeze for public sector workers earning more than £21,000 in his June emergency budget.

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