ELLEN-KATE Horton was appointed Acting Education Permanent Secretary earlier this month, three months after the sacking of predecessor Rosemary Tyrell, writes Gareth Finighan.

Ms Tyrell's dismissal came about following an assessment by an independent team of UK inspectors which concluded that the public school system needed a complete overhaul. Ms Horton's position is probationary until it comes under review in December.

The appointment sparked outrage among teacher representatives, who claimed that Ms Horton lacked experience and, as the sister of Education Minister Randy Horton, would be continually confronted with a conflict of interest.

Although those allegations were later denied by the Bermuda Public Service Union ¿ which staged a press conference to defend Ms Horton, the Mid-Ocean News has obtained documents which show the Education chief was reprimanded for her correspondence to Cabinet.

Although she signed the letter 'Ellen-Kate Horton for the CIL team', she later acknowledged that she acted independently. When school leaders saw the memo, they demanded that Ms Horton face disciplinary action.

In a letter to Chief Education Officer Joseph Christopher, Alan Leigh of the Association of School Principals wrote: "First of all, it must be verified that Ellen-Kate Horton did in fact write the letter on behalf of the CIL team or did she in fact write it for herself.

"As I pointed out to you, principals will find it impossible to work with a group of people or a single person who can pen such vitriolic remarks.

"The least the ASP would expect would be a verbal apology given by Ellen-Kate Horton to the principals as a body. If it is verified that the CIL team were in fact responsible, then we would expect the Ministry to take the necessary action. A statement like 'a good number of them are not even good instructional leaders' does not create the harmony necessary to create a winning team.

"The way the principal of Whitney has been castigated is totally lacking in respect and has to be dealt with severely."

Responding to the letter the same day, Dr. Christopher said: "The matter of that e-mail has been raised with Ms Horton and she has stated that the e-mail was of her own crafting and was not written on behalf of the CIL team.

"The Ministry has worked, over the past week or so, to solve the matter of the online curriculum and had come to a satisfactory conclusion for all participants. The Ministry has dealt with Ms Horton with respect to the matter of this inappropriate e-mail and would hope that the principals would not allow this to derail our ongoing collaboration."

When told about the letter yesterday, Bermuda Union of Teachers President Lisa Trott said it demonstrated why so many teachers had opposed Ms Horton's appointment.

And she also defended the principal of Whitney Institute Middle School, saying it was unfair for Ms Horton to single him out for attack.

"There is a procedure in place for people to discuss their concerns, and for a civil servant to write such a letter to the Cabinet is totally out of the realm of normalcy," Mrs. Trott said.

"Any other civil servant would never have gotten away with penning such a letter to the Cabinet and the fact that the letter was sent to Cabinet speaks for the free-for-all rein that some people are given if they have the right connections.

"It was very antagonistic and didn't help in any way. The whole tone spoke of the encounters that the union has had with Ms Horton. We objected to her appointment and the letter shows why."

Referring to Ms Horton's condemnation of the Whitney Institute Middle head for sending his child to a private school, Mrs. Trott said: " It's very unfair to criticise anyone for where they send their children to school as there are many factors that have to be taken into account in that decision.

"Of course Ms Horton's own child never set foot in a public school in Bermuda ¿ she did go to a public school but I understand that it was a very elite public school in Canada.

"I guess this is typical of the type of personal attack that we get from this person. But if you are looking at the system as a whole and want to change the whole system for the better, such personal attacks should not be necessary ¿ there's no need to single out individuals.

"I know of the positive influence that the principal at Whitney has had and it was so unfair to single him out.

"The point is, a good idea is a good idea and if a person has a good idea it shouldn't matter where they come from, be it Canada, America or the Caribbean.

"We admit that we need to change some things but we are not getting the maximum out of everybody if we're fighting amongst ourselves."