As I move among lobbyists for government schools I am alarmed at the number of people who are trying to buy the sympathy vote for public education by projecting a victim image. These people blame the Government for the drift, they blame private schools, they blame journalists and they blame lack of resources. They use the media to sensationalise shortcomings and inequities in the government school system, trying to stir public emotions in their favour. The issue centred on a strike by cleaners but the appalling image of dangerously dirty classrooms and toilets sent a wave of panic through the public. I despair at the number of people with a victim mentality who are destroying the system they so passionately want to preserve.
Nobody wants to back a loser.
Certainly not the parents who daily deliver their precious offspring into the hands of schoolteachers. The sympathy vote is fickle. Every school, indeed, every organisation has its flaws. But if you constantly cry poor and insist on exposing your defects to public scrutiny you risk losing public confidence. While educators must never lose their commitment to improving processes, they need to consider the best forums to air their concerns.