Madam, - Your Editorial of April 21st raises some pertinent points about the publication of Whole School Evaluation reports as proposed by Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin.
A teacher who is readily identifiable, such as the principal or the sole special education teacher in a school, would be subjected to a level of public scrutiny without parallel in either the public or private sector.
Those who support this treatment of teachers, while coyly declining to submit themselves to the same measure of accountability, are guilty of hypocrisy. I cannot log on and check the performance reviews of doctors in my locality to help me decide which one to bring my child to. Neither can I read the performance reviews of the officials working in the banks in my town, so I can make an informed choice as to which bank to patronise.
I do not find this extraordinary and I would not expect to have access to that sort of information anyway.
Teachers are entitled to the same respect that they accord other members of this society: no more, but certainly no less. You can support the publication of WSE reports on the Internet or you can claim to be fair. You cannot do both. - Yours, etc,
PAT CROWE, Celbridge, Co Kildare.