Vexed Bermoothes

Phil Butterfield’s impolitic comments about the teachers union gives the feeling that the education imbroglio will get a lot worse before it gets better.

And by decrying that fact that the union’s leader – a gym teacher by background – was deemed an opinion maker, he opens a whole new can of worms.

“That indeed is a travesty. All of us in this room and citizens of this country should be ashamed of that reality.” 

“I don’t give a damn that the unions are aggrieved.” 

I’ll point out that many our grand leaders also came from less glamorous occupations before hitting the political jackpot. I understand Mr. Butterfield’s frustrations … after all, he is the head of a hierarchical bank where his word is command and it’s true that many of Bermuda’s education problems are people/leadership problems. But his comments come across as arrogant and unhelpful to our goal of fixing public education.

Government’s education consultant, Henry Johnson, seems on a much more even keel:

“I think Bermuda can create its own education future and in a real sense create its own national future.  There’s an inverse relationship between the amount of squabbling going on over education reform and the learning outcomes for students … I think it’s really a waste of time when we can be spending energy trying to figure out ways to educate kids, rather than to argue about whether somebody should or should not be in a role. I think that’s not very helpful. There’s only so much energy that each of us has. If we choose to use it to solve issues, it’s time better spent.”