We have the worlds most envied public service, the NHS. Our schools deliver, by & large, a pretty good service. Town Halls do their best, in difficult times. The Police, Fire & Rescue are always only a phone call away. I'm never entirely sure who runs our roads, trams & railways. And, are we sure privatising things like gas, water & electricity, the post office too, was definitely the right thing to do? We have lovely national parks across the nation. I could go on. Of course the people running these organisations, don't always meet up to our expectations.

But does the fickle public maintain 24/7 vigilance on our services? When invited to exercise their democratic right of opinion via an election; 25% don't vote in General Elections & around 2/3rds don't vote in Council elections.

But; have family in school, fall ill or suffer crime & pretty quick folk are experts in education, health or the Police!

There's been great interest, e activity, about 2 local schools recently. Both had poor (Ofsted) inpections. The reports included some pretty extreme language about the Governors, the Head, staff, parents & pupils. What's left of the LEA were "aware", some governors were shocked, surprised, Heads "anticipated" the outcome!

I know better than most that a good schooling, with a committed complement of teachers, strong leadership is a life changer, a massive agent of social mobility. We can't stand back & watch, can we?

Good schooling creates stronger communities, better qualifications lead to better career opportunities, a healthier economy, less crime, healthier communities...you know the mantra & that it's axiomatic!

So how did these get into this mess? Why did they? And why were some surprised?

How do we get out of this mess that the pupils don't need or deserve?

Stop ducking folks!