Last week I discussed the significant role that education, in particular public education, must play in any successful policy of economic empowerment - without education we cannot achieve empowerment. I proposed that competition and accountability within the public system are the two missing but vital elements.

We can all name the standout schools in the Bermuda public system - they're the ones which have experienced the least political interference and bureaucratic meddling. St. George's Prep, Warwick Academy (before going private) and Berkeley are the examples which spring to mind.

These schools are however, the exception and not the rule. And with the Ministry continuing to exert too much control over too many facets of the day-to-day running of education the future seems bleak.

Ideally, we should be positioning the schools to compete with each other for students and allocate resources as trends of increased or reduced demand develop. The Ministry's role would then be reduced to managing the budget; maintaining a consistent, internationally recognised curriculum; administering a performance-based compensation system; and rewarding the staff of the highest performing schools for achieving superior results.

If there was one event which highlighted the fundamental problem with the current approach to public education it was the St. George's Prep dispute. Due to its deserved reputation for providing a first class public education, the school received a higher number of applications for enrolment than spots allocated by the Ministry.

The Minister and his Ministry's reaction was not to respond to this public vote of confidence by making additional spots and funding available, but to dig their heels in, ignore the wishes of the community and attempt to send the students to another school - because evidently bureaucrats, not parents, know best.

As well-intentioned as the folks at the Ministry might be, they must be the only ones who can't see that this top-down approach to education is failing. The bureaucracy exerts far too much control over the administration of the individual schools, and as at St. George's Prep, they don't listen to the parents.

Just as power in our democracy is temporarily conferred from the people to the politicians, decision-making power in public education is conferred from parents to the Ministry. And in both cases, this power is to be used in accordance with our interests, not their own.

Unfortunately we're not seeing that today. The St. George's community spoke with one voice, and was ignored - although they eventually prevailed after a protracted legal and public relations campaign.

If we are to stop the bleeding in public education and provide a chance of success for future generations, the Ministry needs to get out of the way and let the parents choose, the teachers teach and the principals manage.

The Ministry as we know it should cease to exist. Its current role would be replaced with individually elected school boards consisting of parents, alumni and other members of the community. These boards would then be free to hire the principal of their choice, who would administer the school in accordance with the wishes of the board. The appointed leadership of each school would be able to recruit their own teaching staff, without the worry of having them arbitrarily reassigned.

At any point, if the school wasn't performing adequately, the dissatisfaction would flow from the bottom up through a clear chain of accountability. If standards were not maintained, or teachers were not performing up to par, the parents would express their displeasure directly to the board members or principal. If the principal failed to address these, the board would step in and direct him or her to act, or ultimately they would be removed. If the board themselves failed to act they would be replaced, or the parents would simply enrol their child elsewhere.

It's a simple formula and one that has worked well in the private system. These schools compete fiercely for students, and their students and our community is better for it. And while this certainly isn't the whole answer, or the only answer, it would be a step in the right direction.

Ultimately, we only have two options at our disposal in reforming public education: we can either overhaul the current system or start cutting cheques to parents for use in paying the tuition at a school of their choice, whether public or private.

Only then can students of any means have equal access to a quality education. And only then does a policy of empowerment stand any chance of succeeding.

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