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What makes most of us so angry about the decline of public education in Bermuda is the blustery denial and defense by a succession of Ministry leaders, elected and appointed. Essentially, they have said there was nothing wrong, and if there was, they were already fixing it.

When the PLP first took over the government we were all extremely encouraged by then Premier Smith's immediate attention to education: The changes to teacher/student ratios.

This was a good, quick and easy first step and sent a signal that education reforms were high on the new government's list.

Since then, while there have been many indicators of a burgeoning problem and probably just as many piecemeal fixes, little has been done comprehensively to halt the slide in the performance of, and confidence in, the public school system.

While the PLP deserve credit for actually commissioning the report, however reluctantly, the real test will be in implementation. To be sure, the first signals from the Minister seem casual and are not at all inspiring.

The big question is: How will public education fit into the island's overall education product. Whether we wish it to or not, public education exists alongside the private schools.

And parents and teachers have increasingly been voting with their feet for private education.

I understand the argument that we cannot afford to abandon public education because too many of our citizens, now as parents, and in the future as current students, are dependent upon it.

I have made that argument myself.

However, for each parent faced with the pressing question, "Where can I best educate my offspring?" and facing a real time decision, "What choice do I have right now?", the answer is often determined by what they can afford, period.

As long as some schools get the best students at intake, those schools will be likely to have the best results at graduation, whether or not they are actually "good" schools. Thus the public school system is perpetually handicapped by perception becoming reality.

And the enabling ingredient for that perception-reality cycle is the private school system.

Private schools are not at fault here, don't get me wrong, but without the engagement of the private school family, I have my doubts that the rescue package for the public school system, however radical, will go far enough.

The real test

The real test for rescue will be how well and how soon the Ministry's leaders, elected and appointed, can shed the pall of obfuscation, whether it be overt secrecy or just clouded transparency. The PLP as an entity is not yet comfortable with "the whole truth" aspect of openness (and to be fair, few political bodies are). Internal workings of the Education Department have been and continue to be highly secretive. Even now there seems to be no urgency for reform.

Much fanfare surrounded the announcing of the review and the presentation of its recommendations, but there is little that gives confidence the problems will be fixed. Perhaps they cannot.

The most telling aspect of the report is its focus. Education spokespeople have been of late laying the bulk of the blame on students and parents - the real victims of the failure.

The review, at least what we've read of it, did not even mention school children or their parents.

My take: The education deliverers forgot that when you point one finger at someone else, you have three fingers pointing back at you.

What will it take to get education repair or replacement moved up "to the next level"?

Perhaps parents of children who have been in the public schools for the past eight years or so should consider legal action for breach of faith or breach of contract. That would light a fire.[[In-content Ad]]

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