CONTROVERSIAL education chief Ellen-Kate Horton has slammed the public school system as chaotic and "a disaster in the making", according to documents obtained by the Mid-Ocean News.

In a politically-laced, racially-charged memorandum to members of the Cabinet, the top civil servant ¿ sister of Education Minister Randy Horton ¿ warned that poor decisions "will undoubtedly assist in handing the government back to the UBP".

And Ms Horton (pictured) also argued that, by adopting a school curriculum devised in the US, "it is as if we are buying ourselves back into slavery" and implied that Government was spending taxpayer dollars unwisely.

Her missive also took a swipe at education professionals, accusing school principals of meddling in the curriculum rather than focusing on what goes on in the classroom, while individual teachers were too busy "doing his or her own thing because no one is accountable to do the right thing".

Former Education Minister Terry Lister came under fire for failing to meet with education officers while one public school head was attacked for sending his child to a private school.

And Ms Horton also declared that Bermudians were still living under the yoke of colonialism which instilled an inferiority complex among islanders.

The three-page e-mail, written in 2005 when Ms Horton was a member of the Curriculum and Instructional Leadership team (CIL), provoked an angry response from head teachers, who claimed they would "find it impossible to work with a group of people or a single person who can pen such vitriolic remarks".

Chief Education Officer Joseph Christopher later confirmed that the Ministry had "dealt with Ms Horton with respect to the matter of this inappropriate e-mail".

Ms Horton's e-mail reads in part:

"Dear Sirs and Madams,

"How can the Government justify spending approximately $1.2 million of the taxpayers' money each year employing 13 education officers of the CIL team if there has obviously been a vote of no confidence? Shouldn't the Minister of Education ensure that the Government spends money allotted to education wisely?

"Recently we learned, quite by accident, that the middle school programme for Mathematics and English Language Arts will be the programme written in Plano, Texas, for THEIR students. Plano is a rich, majority white suburb of Dallas. We will spend megabucks for this online curriculum without seeing if the pilot (in place at Whitney Institute) is working. At no point has the Minister met with the five officers of the core areas to discuss this situation. We have asked for an audience with the Minister but have been denied. In an attempt to ameliorate these circumstances, the current Minister should seek assistance from those Ministers who successfully led our schools in the past (Horton, Butler).

"Do we really want independence? This must be some kind of JOKE ¿ a country that cannot (or will not) adequately educate its people is not worthy of becoming independent. If we truly wish independence, one of the most important aspects en route to that destination is definitely a solid ability to educate the populace.

"The decision has been made to use a programme brought to Bermuda (and bought BY Bermuda) by an American principal of the Whitney Institute. Principals are not curriculum experts; a good number of them are not even good instructional leaders! While we 'try' the programme on Bermuda's public school system, the very principal of whom I have spoken, sends his son to private school.

"What is wrong with this picture? The Plano curriculum is clearly not good enough for his child!!! The decision to use the Plano curriculum has been made by five school principals who themselves (the majority of them anyway) were put into place using yet another imported tool (an interviewing tool).

"Fifty per cent of Bermuda's children are enrolled in private schools. This demonstrates an utter lack of confidence in public education. This has happened since the introduction of the American Middle School system, which occurred under the UBP watch. Was this by design?"

Ms Horton went on to point out that the CIL team had spent a year reviewing the Middle School curriculum with teacher leaders, had written quarterly planners, had set standards and had taken teachers out of the classroom for "professional development" ¿ yet the CIL team had essentially been ignored by the Ministry.

"The entire year of COSTLY work, preparation and research has gone to waste!" Ms Horton wrote.

"Wake up and smell the roses before it is too late! Such decisions will undoubtedly assist in handing the government back to the UBP!"

Ms Horton also questioned the financial cost of buying a curriculum model in from the US, adding: "We are clearly not THINKING independence as through this system, it is as if we are BUYING ourselves BACK into slavery! It is as if we are saying, 'Here Uncle Sam, teach our Bermudians to be little Americans . . . in fact WE'LL PAY YOU FOR IT!'

"Colonialism systematically determines the manner in which we think and the reasons for which we think that way. This mindset is SO influential that we actually believe that our behaviour is 'normal'. We have been socialised to feel and act as if we are inferior and incapable. We are ashamed of OUR culture hence we look to the USA and Britain (where blacks are the minority) to educate our kids rather than look towards the Caribbean isles where there are obviously similar racial demographics. Adopting exams and curricula devised for other incomparable jurisdictions will not solve our problems."

In an attack on teachers, Ms Horton (pictured) said: "Downloading lesson plans developed by someone else does not make teachers good instructors. The missing element is accountability. Everyone is doing his or her own thing because no one is held accountable to do the right thing.

"This has led to chaos.Persons with the least understanding of what this country needs to educate the leaders of tomorrow are being allowed to make important decisions that we will live to regret for decades to come."

Calling for Bermudian educators to develop a curriculum model specifically for the island, Ms Horton concluded: "Gone are the days when we need 'massa' to tell us how to think. Creating our own standards, curriculum, assessment and units of study is the way forward. Principals, concern yourselves with ensuring that your teachers TEACH the curriculum well. Leave the written curriculum (which is mandated) to your curriculum leaders."