PARENTS have branded a visit to four US cities for headteachers a "disgrace".

The £1,500 trips are being offered to the county's 106 headteachers and will be paid for by individual school budgets.

Kent County Council (KCC) sent letters to schools in May inviting headteachers on the trip, which will take them to Seattle, New York, Boston and San Francisco to gain knowledge of how American schools teach IT.

Around 90 per cent have accepted and each one will spend £1,500 of school funds meaning a total bill for the trip of more than £140,000.

Concerns were raised the trips will be a jolly for staff and it is not necessary to send all of the 106 headteachers in Kent.

Mother-of-one Jean Ketley, 48, of Wentworth Drive, Dartford, said: "We haven't got a boys' school in Dartford but they can send these teachers to America. It's a disgrace.

"I was fuming when I found out about this plan. They shouldn't be wasting money on trips like this.

"The money should be spent on equipment."

But Tony Martin, headteacher of Dartford Grammar School for Boys, says the trip will benefit students and all areas of the community.

The school in West Hill, Dartford, sent a teacher to California in the 1990s.

This influenced the spacing plans for the new sixth form building and provided ideas for the teaching of the International Baccalaureate, now taken by 60 per cent of pupils.

Mr Martin said: "It is a chance to compare practices and the USA is well-known for its innovative teaching, particularly of IT."

He says the money will come from the teacher-training budget.

The area's schools are first in line for the Government's Building Schools for the Future initiative.

Under the scheme, both Dartford and Gravesham will benefit from a Government grant for refurbishments in schools.

A KCC spokesman said: "If headteachers thought this was just a jolly, then they wouldn't go.

"It is not LEA funding. The schools, out of their own balances, are deciding whether it is worthwhile and a lot of them are going because they are excited by it.

"The group will be shown the cutting edge of computer technology and how it can benefit the learning process."