Jackie Kemp - freelance journalist and writer - Edinburgh, Scotland

Later this month Malcolm and Pauline Dixon will find out if they have defeated the government and can start a family, writes Jackie Kemp.

All they wanted was an ordinary family life - the kind most people take for granted. Cautious, do-it-by-the-book Malcolm Dixon and Pauline, his wife, did not foresee that their lives would be transformed to the point where they would mount a legal challenge against a government minister.

"What does it say to people about the importance of a school board, if you tell them 'It doesn't matter what you call it and you can set it up however you like?'" says Cathy McCulloch, chair of the school board at her son's primary, St Mary's in Leith, Edinburgh.

Her views are representative of many within the school boards community in Scotland, as the Executive consults on sweeping changes to the system for involving parents in education - which effectively mean the abolition of boards.

The new draft bill means schools will be able to decide for themselves how to set up their own body, how many people will be on it and what it will do and be called.

The draft legislation is too vague, according to McCulloch, who is also co-director of the children's parliament.