Many thanks to Kerra Maddern for writing on the knotty question of teacher status (“Without all due respect”, 20 April).

If the status of teachers is low, I suggest part of the reason is because they won’t fight back. They may value their profession, but they seem to have little faith in themselves as professionals.

We are in the internet age. Forming alliances is relatively easy. It is an ideal time for teachers to come to their own conclusions about education. Forget politicians - for them, education is a means to several ends and few are in the interests of the rest of us.

Robin Alexander once said that if teachers didn’t take charge of their profession, someone else would - and it happened. Perhaps it’s time to take back the profession. It is too important to be left in the hands of amateurs.

Michael Todd, Retired teacher, Digby, Lincolnshire.