BERMUDA Union of Teachers (BUT) president Anthony Wolffe was at great pains to express his union's thanks for what he called the "public expressions of support" for the recent strike centred around better working conditions and wage parity with other Government workers with similar academic qualifications.

But I am afraid this time that support may not have been overwhelming as it was during earlier teachers' protests to do with unruly children in school and what looked like a rising tide of violence in schools.

This time parents had to scramble to find alternative arrangements for children who abruptly found themselves out of school.

During the walkout the teachers called for a special board of inquiry to look into their call for wage parity and the general disrespect for teaches and the teaching profession.

I am of the opinion that such an inquiry, if it takes place, should be much broader in its scope involving the whole community in a sort of take-note exercise (if I can use some Parliamentary language).

The inquiry would examine the nature and role of education in Bermuda and not just deal with salary issues and the perceived disrespect of teachers.

I have always looked upon the education systems as a kind of partnership between parents on the one hand and teachers on the other.

This is probably not a perception that is shared by a great many other people who believe the education of their children is wholly and solely the responsibility of the school system and teachers.

I suspect that a great deal of the disquiet on the part of parents over the latest teachers' strike had less to do with the sudden interruption of their children's education than it did with the sudden loss of their day-time babysitters.

I hate to put it that way, for not all parents think like this. But the general reaction reminded me of the last time teachers went out in protest. In a store I overheard a mother exclaim: "With the teachers out of school, who will look after my children? I have to go to work."

In other words, her concern was about the loss of her day-time child minders and not the interruption of her children's education. At least that was my impression.

THAT is why I call for a broadening of the terms of reference of the inquiry teachers are demanding into Bermuda's educational system. Clearly, some parents are confused (and even unaware) of the real role they should be playing in their children's education.

It is too bad this whole dispute seemed to end up being based around the question of money when there are other issues involved (you just had to read the protest placards carried by teachers during their march on Parliament to understand how many other issues are involved).

We all have our memories of a favourite teacher during our school days and the older generation like to compare the teachers of yesterday with today's teachers. There has been talk about the level of dedication of teachers then compared with teachers today.

But then in the past the partnership that I talked about between parents and teachers was far more prevalent and that allowed a headmaster or headmistress to control whole schools with one strap.

I am not an advocate for the return of corporal punishment; but in the old days discipline - and just the threat of discipline - was enough to keep even the most unruly students in check.

It is true that many teachers did go the extra mile during those times but I believe that same dedication still exists among Bermuda's teaching profession today.

It's just that we are reluctant to admit that we may be putting a little more on the shoulders of our teachers today than was ever the case in times past.

But even in the so-called good old days the question of fair payment for teachers was an issue. After all, the oldest trade union organisation in Bermuda is, in fact, the Teachers Union.

As far back as 1922 the Bermuda Union of Teachers was giving out its first scholarships to high school students.

As altruistic as that sounds, the fact remains you don't form a union to demonstrate how public-spirited you are; unions are formed to better working conditions and pay.

Despite all the problems in Bermuda's public education system, the island still produces significant numbers of students who go on to further education in colleges and universities overseas. As far as I know these young Bermudians do not come exclusively from the private school system.

I see this instead as a measure of the success of all our teachers in both the public and private systems.

We do put a lot of responsibility on the shoulders of our teachers and most do make the effort to educate our children.

Sometimes we are reminded that some teachers have paid the ultimate price. In America some have been shot down in the classroom.

In the recent tragedy of the earthquake that struck the small village of San Giuliano di Puglia in Italy, where an entire first-grade class of children were killed, the teachers died with their students.

And who can forget schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe who had hoped to conduct a class from space but, like the rest of the space shuttle Challenger crew, perished in that catastrophe?

I am reluctant to make war on Bermuda's teachers or to put them in jail as some have called for. I would rather rescue and strengthen the partnership between parents and teachers that I have been talking about. That relationship, for some of us, is under stress and it has become strained.

But it must never be broken for the sake of our children and most importantly for the future of our country.