Walter:
"Having the same standards is a start"
No, it isn't. No two agencies have the same standards and I doubt they ever will. I'm not even sure such an approach is desirable.
How would it be possible to have accountability with out a standard by which to judge it?
Accountability can only be set as a practice once a standard is set to account by. Setting a minimum standard with a form of accountability is not all that difficult. It's been done in many other areas of our society. Industrial standards, automotive standards, building and codes standards, hazemat standards, medical standards, osha, etc, etc. The result of these standards has made the respected fields much safer places to work in, vehicles safer to drive, medicine safer to take.......... All of these industries at one point or another said they would never adhere to a set of standards or submit to being monitored either, I think we all can see the result of that.
I think we can all also agree that there is a basic amount of knowledge and skill every diver should have prior to receiving their c-card or they should not receive it until these minimum's can be met and accounted for. The basic standards could be debated by those that are much smarter than I.
With many industries there are standards set-up and a form of accountability in place. There are numbers that can be called to report problems, when a certain number of problems occur with in a certain area there is an investigation launched and the problem corrected.
In other words if there were an abnormal amount of complaints filed regarding a particular instructors students it could be investigated and corrected by either assisting that instructor to perform better or get rid of them. If it turns out to be an abnormal amount of instructors with one agency than that could be dealt with. Eventually the industry would benefit as a whole.
I am not one that believes in big government but there are certain areas that are beneficial for the overall well being of the masses.
Scott