The number of school leaders losing their jobs continues to grow and heads could become more vulnerable under new complaints procedures, a union warned yesterday.
The Association of School and College Leaders said 163 of its members were sacked last year, up from 150 in 2008.
ASCL's general secretary John Dunford will air concern during a conference speech that teachers will be discouraged from seeking headships because of new ways for parents to register grievances.
The increase in sackings and redundancies - up from 93 in 2007 - is down to schools being forced to close or becoming academies, and pressure from central and local authorities over exam results, the ASCL said.
And the position of headteachers could become more vulnerable due to the introduction of four new complaints procedures, including to the local government ombudsman, it is claimed.
Mr Dunford said that the new system will make the LGO "giddy as a toddler running amok in the Early Learning Centre" but means "more accountability, more bureaucracy and more unnecessary work" for school leaders.
He added: "Our challenge is to override this negative approach to parent/school relations and engage parents positively in the education of their children."
A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "It's absolutely right that parents are given concrete guarantees of strong discipline policies; close contact with teachers; intensive catch-up classes if their children are falling behind; and education and training for all 16 and 17-year-olds.
"This is not telling schools to reinvent the wheel - they should already be doing this. It is about setting out in law what pupils and parents should expect from their schools and making sure that happens wherever they are in the country.
"This simply will not lead to a flood of court cases against schools. There will be a clear process so teachers, heads, governing bodies and local authorities can deal with any complaint - as they already do with the vast majority of issues.
"If they do not, we've now given the local government ombudsman powers to hear parents' complaints and recommend that schools takes remedial action. If they still will not, the secretary of state will be able to intervene and direct schools to act."