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. I maintain that the media is not the best place.
Public attitude hardens when angry pressure groups repeatedly whinge and storm.
While images of opposing armies may sell papers, it unnerves parents who see their children as pawns in a power game. Attacks on alternative systems of education indicate that the victim mentality pervades the highest level of bureaucracy. Sadly, I see a minister driving divisions between school systems through the use of critical comparisons and retribution that will not make one system better than another. Indeed, it has the reverse effect. In-fighting erodes esteem for the whole profession.