WHEN Professor Brian Cooke was elected vice-chairman of the English Schools Foundation last December, he said the troubled group's first task was to overcome the problems of the last two years and ''do something about building image, confidence and trust''. It would be surprising if Professor Cooke were able to claim complete success as yet.
It will take longer than two months to sweep away the bitterness and distrust between management, teachers and parents that built up in the battle to remove the controversial former chief executive Mr Maurice Millard and the subsequent row over his $4.35 million ''golden handshake''.
Nonetheless, the ESF made a start before Christmas by producing a solution to another long-running dispute at Clearwater Bay School. The removal of two senior teachers to other posts was greeted with general relief by parents.
Sadly there is a sense that the atmosphere elsewhere at the ESF has soured rather than sweetened recent weeks. To an extent, this may be a reflection of shifting allegiances. Some of the parents who supported the teachers in their efforts to unseat Mr Millard, and felt their demands had been ignored by the management for too long, now feel neglected by an alliance of teachers, school principals and executive.
The grievance has developed over a relatively minor issue, the length of the school day for primary students, but it sums up the frustration of the parents. They claims that the ESF Executive Committee is so heavily weighted in favour of the staff, that parental concerns are easily overridden or ignored.
On the other side of the argument are those who say that if parents want to have a greater say in the management of the ESF, they should be ready to show their interest and take part in parent-teacher activities. That criticism might have struck home in the past. Even now there is a silent majority that does not regularly make its views known, and believes its children's education is best left in the hands of the professionals.