Bermudians should seize the opportunity to serve on upcoming public school boards.

Whitney Institute trustee James Zuill stressed to Pembroke Rotarians, at a recent breakfast meeting, that the Island was virtually backward when it came to school boards and therefore members of the public had little influence in the running of public schools.

"For 30 years Bermuda's government of education has probably been the least democratic in the English speaking world,'' Mr. Zuill said. "In the USA voters choose, from time to time, school boards for their towns. These boards run their schools. Some are very good. Some are terrible. All are democratic.

"In Canada, the voters choose the school boards, and the school board chooses an educational director. His (or her) job is to manage the schools. The director is not part of the civil service. He survives by results. Poor results and they fire him and find a new director.

"In Britain, the voters choose the county council. The county council chooses the local educational authority. The authority runs the schools, but each school has a board of governors, some of whom are elected by the parents of the particular school. Therefore, in all those countries, even in Britain, a parent whose child has a problem has a fighting chance to influence administration and save her or his kid.'' Bermuda had no such system, Mr. Zuill said, noting that the Premier chose the Education Minister who may or may not listen to parents.

"As for the civil servants who do the real administrative work at the Department of Education,'' he added, "they are chosen by the Public Service Commission. Results or no results, they are almost impossible to dismiss.'' However, Mr. Zuill noted that the new Education Act included a clause which required governing boards for the upcoming five middle schools and two senior secondary schools.

"This clause is the most revolutionary change in the new school system,'' he said. "It shifts some power from the civil service and politicians to ordinary citizens.

"At last we have a route by which we, ourselves, can influence the schools.'' Noting that private school enrolment was rising with one in every three children attending such schools, Mr. Zuill said: "You might justifiably say that more than one third of Bermuda's parents have so little confidence in our schools that they prefer to pay taxes and school fees as well rather than trust their kids to our Government schools. Many more parents, had they the money, would do likewise.'' "Therefore,'' he urged, "please support the change. Write to the Minister of Education, offer to serve on governing bodies and urge others to do likewise.'' Mr. Zuill also pointed out that schools were the only avenue in which Bermuda could ensure that future workers and managers were "sound and decent people''.

"The school system, which is now being ended placed heavy emphasis on the winners,'' he said. "They went to the academic schools, had the best teachers, equipment, the lot.

"By quirk of fate the age 11 to 12, at which students took the test to transfer to secondary, coincides with an age at which girls are usually better students than boys. Therefore many more girls than boys went into academic schools. Berkeley and Warwick Academy practically filled up with girls.

"The boys became a pool from which Bermuda's boiling social problems are kept full to the brim.'' Mr. Zuill said he did not believe the planned new education system addressed such social problems.

Therefore, he stressed: "We should use our new power to change that. Bermuda may never be able to reform the criminals today. But we have a real practical possibility of reaching kids who are at risk and helping them. The younger we start helping them, the more successful we, and indeed they, will become.'' Mr. Zuill urged Rotarians to contact Education Minister Jerome Dill and volunteer to serve on a governing board.

"When you get to serve, concentrate your attention on the losers,'' he added.

"Help them and we help everyone. Do not hope, because you are already busy with plenty of work, to escape the blame by doing nothing. The new Act has passed the ball to us. If Bermuda fails our kids, we all fail our kids.'' EDUCATION ED