Is Umbridge a commentary on British government's educational policy?

[davewitley]

Carol wrote:

> What I'd like to
> know is whether British readers think that Umbridge is a caricature of
> Margaret Thatcher (whom JKR evidently didn't like). I'd also like to
> know whether Hermione's remark, "It means the Ministry is ("are," if
> you'r British) interfering at Hogwarts," has any bearing on government
> interference in British schools, "public" or otherwise.

I don't see Umbridge as a caricature of Thatcher, myself.  Their 
methods are just so different.  Thatcher would have passed a law to 
abolish the Governors, and then fired Dumbledore, before ever going 
near Hogwarts, for example.  She just didn't need a Hermione to decode 
her intentions.

I also have trouble seeing MOM interference in Hogwarts as satire, too, 
because it's all in the context of a fight against an outside threat.  
The MOM's interference isn't a response to political pressures about 
education (which is what British government interference in schools 
is), but to do with differing perceptions of threat.  Umbridge isn't 
really trying to improve DADA because she thinks it's badly taught: 
she's trying to undermine it because she thinks it's taught too well.

However, I'm not a teacher, so I don't know if some of the details - 
those clipboard sessions with Trelawney and Hagrid, for example - are 
based on real incidents.

> Carol, isolated from British thought and politics in the world's most
> arid backwater

Can a backwater be arid?

David