THE SECONDARY School Principals' Association (SSPAI) has backed away from a full-blown clash with the ASTI by opting not to seek trade union status or negotiating rights.
Instead, the association has decided to look at the position of principals in Britain - where school heads are organised in a separate entity - and to aim for closer links with other principals' organisations in Ireland.
Relations with the ASTI remain strained - most SSPAI members also belong to the larger union - though recent meetings between the two groups have been described as "cordial".
However, the ASTI strenuously objected when the principals' organisation was invited to a conference on whole-school inspection by the Department of Education last March.
The SSPAI's relative lack of industrial muscle leaves it ill-equipped to respond to the concerns of principals, which were well aired at the association's annual conference in Clonmel, Co Tipperary, last week.
Delegates expressed impatience at the length of time the current PCW talks on teachers' pay and conditions were taking. After almost three years, there is still no sign of the promised reorganisation of middle-management in schools, to the frustration of principals.
"Middle-management reform is the single most acute issue at the moment. Every other development in schools is dependent upon it. We are now in a state of paralysis, which has been going on for far too long," Jean Geoghegan of Cork said.
Privately, some principals said they felt betrayed by their rank-and-file teachers, who voted in such numbers to reject the Government's last offer in the spring. This promised big increases in allowances for principals, the creation of additional promoted posts and the introduction of merit instead of seniority as the main criterion for promoting teachers.
Since these proposals were dumped, the issues of middle-management reorganisation and the workload faced by principals have gone off the agenda, many delegates felt.
According to Siobhan Corry of Lucan, Co Dublin, "it's as though we don't exist - we're just not at the races. Two years ago, I believed we were getting places, but now I'm very worried. In the meantime, our workload is increasing constantly. We're left with an intolerable burden."
Noel Keating said it appeared there had been more success in negotiations between the unions and the Department than between management and the Department. As a result, the principle of promotion on the basis of seniority was being revived.
Several speakers called for the association to "make a stand" against promotion on seniority, and in favour of promotion on merit. One even suggested wryly that the conference "follow the lead set by the American people" by rejecting the notion of promotion by seniority.
However, others believed seniority was not the point. Sine ad Bhreathnach felt the appointment of post-holders to specific duties and on merit would not solve the problems principals were facing.
"The huge workload of principals cannot be carried by a few extra post-holders on reduced hours. There is too much time to be done in the time available regardless of whom is available to do it."
Paddy Boyle said it would be "unfortunate" if it came to a row over seniority. Even if every post were filled on merit, that still wouldn't create the kind of middle-management structure principals need. Instead, a new grade, that of assistant principal, should be created, which would be filled on merit.
But what to do about this evident dissatisfaction? The SSPAI is not in at the negotiating table on the PCW, so it has no direct influence on events there. Its conference backed away from a motion calling on principals not to implement new additions to the curriculum such as relationships and sexuality education. Instead, delegates decided to leave this proposal "on the table".
Michael Dennehy from Bray, Co Wicklow, suggested the SSPAI should employ a professional public-relations company to get its message across. However, . the association has put off a decision on appointing full-time staff, though the subscription has been increased to £60 a year.
President Michael McCann's speech to the conference went down well with delegates, who felt it touched all the major areas of concern. Chief among these is the Department's plans to introduce whole-school inspection (WSI).
Since there is virtually no inspection of secondary schools at present, this could prove a huge culture change for many teachers. With no sign of significant extra resources being made available for the scheme, McCann was probably right to like the proposed change as being akin to "trying to transform a fundamentalist Muslim state into a modern liberal democracy overnight.
"We are seriously concerned at the huge extra burden that would inevitably fall on the already overburdened principal, given the paucity of back-up in terms of ancillary staff and meaningful middle management," he said.
Over at the annual conference of the Association of Principals of Vocational Schools and Community Colleges (APVSCC) in Malahide, Co Dublin, similar concerns were being expressed.
President Larry Kavanagh said the Department was "putting the cart before the horse" by insisting schools have a school plan before it had even issued guidelines on how to draw this up.
Kavanagh called for the introduction of WSI in a "positive and reassuring manner" and stressed the need for national guidelines to be put in place first.
He criticised the "silence" of the Department regarding a promised programme of training for principals and vice-principals. "At a time of exceptional recommended change, this is not good enough."
