Is your surgeon Bermudian?

I hate to fly. I want to like it.  I want to be fearless every time I climb on board a 747 but I am filled with dread. Don’t think I don’t go.  I go, just not with a smile.

I credit the pilots and air traffic controllers for my ability to even contemplate getting on a plane.  In my world they should be paid millions of dollars and have at least six weeks of vacation. I don’t ever want them to be over-tired, fatigued or depressed. I want them to be happy — really happy.

This goes for surgeons, all military personnel, possibly dentists, definitely police and firemen/women. Pay them a lot of money.   They are worth it and their hard work may actually save my life some day. I revere them and am eternally grateful.

But I stand in absolute awe of the women and men who teach our children. Have you ever spent an hour in a classroom? Think of a Broadway performer singing and dancing for seven hours straight while engaging their audience and never losing eye contact. Think about the enormous responsibility that a teacher carries for your children’s future success. You can take some of the credit but be honest, aren’t you glad there’s someone else who has the woeful job of explaining linear equations?  

Think about a teacher’s devotion. For weeks, prior to the new school year, these amazing, generous people have already begun preparing their classrooms, buying, that’s right buying, with their own money, school supplies that they want your child to have.  If that isn’t true love then I’m a fool.  

Edmond Heatley, the newly appointed Education Commissioner is probably suffering right now from what I call the Sunday night blues. You remember that feeling — the start of the school week, the anxiety over an upcoming test, the certainty that your homework should have taken more of your attention.   

It would seem that Dr Heatley has arrived with a little extra baggage on his flight to Bermuda.  He’s the bad guy that the Board of Education has hired to lead Bermuda’s educators forward. According to US press reports, his approach to running the massive school district (approximately 52,000 students!) in Clayton, Georgia was plagued with “top down management” and “excessive emphasis on standardized tests.” 

I certainly don’t expect all parents and teachers to be thrilled with every approach that Dr Heatley took during his three-year tenure in Georgia, but with that many students, along with teachers and administrators to manage, one could at least understand that his approach might be top down management.

Controversy  

Dr Heatley has also come under quite a bit of criticism when he withdrew his candidacy for the position of superintendent in a school district in California for his alleged support of Proposition 8, which would restrict same sex marriage. Whilst I am disappointed that this may be Dr Heatley’s view, it is his personal view, not an educational model or approach.  

Is this why some Bermudians are so exercised over Dr. Heatley’s appointment? No. These folks are more focused on the fact that he isn’t Bermudian. The Board of Education, led by Permanent Secretary Warren Jones selected Dr Edmond Heatley. This was not a political appointment and as a matter of fact, Shadow Minister Walton Brown supports his appointment. If you are disappointed that a new Education Commissioner couldn’t be found in 22-square miles then I guess you will be amazed that you won’t find heart surgeons sitting around our hospital.

If I could, I would make it the law of the land that the best teachers in Bermuda are paid millions of dollars. They are that important.  For the sake of the children of Bermuda, I hope that Dr Heatley is the right man for the right time.  Our children are that important.

I will however, be grateful that every time I get on a plane, or God forbid have to endure surgery, that I won’t be at the mercy of someone’s birthplace being the singular requirement for filling a job. 

I can’t afford it — and neither can you.