On the eve of a threatened teachers' strike which could temporarily close down Bermuda's public schools, the founder of a new organisation pressing for educational reform is urging parents to join him. Myron Piper told Sam Strangewayswhy the Island's ongoing education crisis should matter to everyone.

Myron Piper's two children left Bermuda's public school system several years ago — but that doesn't mean he isn't determined to help the Island's youth get a better education.

The entrepreneur hasn't forgotten how he struggled to get his son and daughter, now aged 21 and 19, the schooling they deserved and he recently set up Bermuda Educational Parents' Association (BEPA) to help others in the same boat.

Mr. Piper only went public with his group last month but has already taken flak for speaking out about what he sees as an unjustified delay in implementing the recommendations in last year's highly critical Hopkins report on schools.

He criticised both educators and Ministry of Education (MoE) officials for failing to act swiftly and bring about change — and his words stung.

Aggrieved teachers called a radio show he appeared on with Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT) leader Mike Charles questioning his motives and asking whether he really spoke for parents.

Mr. Piper is unperturbed by the criticism. "They attacked me because of the statement I made in the papers and to me the point that I tried to get across to them is that I don't come with any sort of angst or emotion.

"There are genuine concerns and questions that need to be answered. The Hopkins report says the quality of teaching is poor. But I think the problem is so complex that no one group can be held responsible."

His motivation in forming BEPA, he explains, is simply a desire to make things better for young people and to galvanise parents to act on behalf of their children.

A volunteer youth worker and soccer and table tennis coach, it pains him to see teenagers he knows not excelling at school.

"When I actually look at the expressions on their faces when they achieve a small success ... and I look at how much confidence it gives them to have somebody to believe in them ... there isn't any better feeling to me.

"I'm here now with no personal benefit to myself and the time I am investing in this is entirely my own. I don't really have any personal axe to grind. All I do is seek to find the truth."

From personal experience with his own children, he feels that public schools often fail to recognise and harness potential.

"As a parent that went through the system I had to spend an enormous amount of time pressing teachers and even principals in order to benefit my children's education," he says.

"I had to ... constantly get teachers to push them because sometimes their behaviour in schools was as a consequence of them not being challenged."

Mr. Piper was brought up in Pembroke by his single parent mother who worked five jobs for 35 years. "That's because she didn't have education," he says. "She made no excuses, asked for nothing. She kept telling me all the time: 'It's important that you get a good education'."

Now a successful and busy property developer who is about to open a restaurant in St. David's, he could have afforded to send his own children to private school — and eventually did.

But he argues: "It shouldn't have to be the case. Parents that have their children in private schools should be enraged that they don't have alternatives."

A new grandfather, Mr. Piper believes there is no time to lose in bettering Bermuda's public schools. "I'm not going to wait until my grandchildren are in school," he says.

The idea of BEPA, he insists, is not about pointing the finger of blame but to get everyone involved in education talking openly about the issues and possible solutions "in order to try to get people to accept responsibility for their share of fixing the problem".

He is aware of how resistant people on the Island are to speaking out against the authorities but says that by joining BEPA, parents will find strength in numbers.

"Most people don't speak out because they fear retribution. A lot of times parents don't imagine or ask what they can do to be more supportive for their children because they feel inadequate in themselves.

"The system is failing those kids now but the system has equally failed a lot of those children's parents."

He won't reveal how many members BEPA has attracted so far but says he has had a big response and is already helping several parents with specific issues.

"I haven't signed up members yet. I'm getting a lot of support for what I'm doing from all sectors of the public," he says. "I've even had Bermudians from overseas who are calling me.

"This is not a numbers game. What does it matter how many people are signed up? If this is a just and righteous cause that we all agree has to happen, why should it matter?"

The 52-year-old describes himself as a social activist and compares BEPA's aim to Martin Luther King's definition of nonviolent direct action i.e. seeking to dramatise and create such a crisis about an issue (in this case education) that the community has to confront it.

"In other words, direct action seeks to identify the target, those that have the power to make decisions and confront them in such a way that they are forced to deal with the issue," he says.

He is a member of Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda and is involved in the Bermuda Race Relations Initiative. "I feel education is the key to solving those issues as well," he says.

Mr. Piper feels he's already had some victories, including getting the notoriously secretive MoE to release information about its arbitration with the BUT over substitute teachers — the issue at the heart of tomorrow's threatened strike.

One goal for the long-term is to set up a workshop for parents and teachers in September led by overseas experts. But for now he's concerned with getting everybody on the Island talking about education and thinking about how they can help improve what goes on in the classroom.

"As a small country, we can't escape our neighbours' problems," he says. "We have 6,000 children in our public school system. I hope to sign up 6,000 parents.

"My call is for parents to get together and stand up against themselves and their children being victimised."

* To contact Mr. Piper email bepa@northrock.bm.