School principals, most of them members of teacher unions, decided at the weekend to explore the idea of representing themselves.
The once all-powerful teacher unions, such as the ASTI and TUI, are facing a strong internal challenge judging by the atmosphere of frustration at a weekend conference of principals and deputy principals. Both unions are already under pressure to deliver for their members on the pay front, but now they are being asked serious questions by the 1,200 members of the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD), which held a highly successful annual conference in Galway.
NAPD is currently a professional association, but could it become more? The conference passed a motion on Saturday calling on its executive to carry out "a full exploration and investigation of the organisational and representational structure" of the NAPD.
While something of a mouthful, this means the executive can now look at all possible options, including a breakaway from the teacher unions.
That option remains one of the more drastic ideas at this stage, but if the leaderships of the ASTI and TUI are not careful to nurture their principal and deputy principal members, it could become a realistic possibility, and perhaps sooner than they think.
By submitting its own paper to the Government's benchmarking body recently, the NAPD has signalled its separation on pay from the general body of teachers and also from the biggest second-level union, the ASTI, which is boycotting the benchmarking process.
The wording of the submission is unambiguous about the difference between teachers and principals on pay. It says the approach of the TUI in particular, of submitting a claim for the generality of teachers, is mistaken.
"A uniform claim made on behalf of the profession in general completely ignores the subtle but radical changes that have occurred in the grades of principal and deputy principal," says the NAPD's submission.
This is the most crucial part and the one which causes ASTI and TUI leaders the most distress. This is because it breaks from the accepted wisdom in teaching, that all teachers are essentially the same, be they principals or not.
This belief is given practical recognition in the "common basic scale" which governs the pay of all teachers, including principals and deputy principals. Some principals want to break from this and regard themselves as chief executives of medium-sized organisations and believe they should be paid accordingly.
The NAPD's submission makes this point and adds that the job security, holidays and conditions of work differ totally from those of teaching colleagues. The submission also says principals and deputies are "less protected by union collegiality".
While it is too early to talk of a breakaway, the Irish principals have been studying the British system where head teachers represent themselves and are serious players on the education scene.
It is interesting to note in that context that NAPD has given information on head teachers in Britain to the benchmarking body.
The NAPD's director, Ms Mary McGlynn, told The Irish Times at the weekend that members would be consulted intensively over the next year on what principals should do next. The results of this consultation will be announced at their next annual conference.
She said there was a "wide range of views" at present, and the aim of the exercise would be to see if a middle ground emerged. in the meantime the NAPD was looking for statutory representation on the education welfare board, the teacher's council, the NCCA and various qualification boards.