‘Superhead’ banned from teaching over IT contract controversy

Former ‘Superhead’ of Hackney schools federation and Department for Education (DfE) advisor Greg Wallace has been banned from teaching over an IT contract controversy.

Wallace is the former executive headteacher of the Best Start Federation of schools and was praised in 2012 by then Education Secretary Michael Gove as a ‘magnificent’ head.

The scandal arose due to Wallace awarding a £1 million IT contract to a close friend, failing to get the governors’ approval before doing so.

Wallace admitted to affording the company in question, C2 Technology, an ‘unfair competitive advantage’ and deleting a ‘significant number’ of emails relating to the deal, but maintained he had not acted dishonestly.

The National College for Teaching and Leadership’s teacher misconduct panel originally concluded that Wallace had not acted dishonestly but had been overburdened by the responsibility on his shoulders. However, this was overruled by Jayne Millions, a DfE official, on the grounds of maintaining ‘public confidence in the profession’.

As a result, Wallace has been banned from continuing to teach. Millions advised that a permanent ban ‘would be against the public interest’ and said that Wallace should have the opportunity to re-enter the profession after a review period of two years.