to think it's a bit cheeky for the wealthy to monopolise places in the top state schools instead of coughing up for private?

[rainbowtoenails]

I've read a lot of the education threads on here and lots of people seem to despair that they can't get into their local state school unless they live within a few feet, where the house prices spike up by several thousands of pounds.
I agree but I'm going to take the arguement one step further by saying that I think its wrong for someone who can easily afford it, to forgo private schools, and take up places at the most oversubscribed state schools, often by using their money to inflate local house prices.
I know that these people have paid their taxes for the state schools but we all pay tax for services we dont use.
If everyone who could afford it went private there would be a lot more spaces in the top state schools for pupils from a wide variety of backgrounds. I firmly beleive that the top state schools should not only serve the rich. This perverse system means that lower income families are paying tax to provide an education they themselves have no access to.

Why should people spend £10K - £20K per year of their own money just to make you happy? I can afford cocaine, but that doesn't mean I want to buy it!

I do send my DS to private school, because I have the choice to do so. Choice. It's called living in a democracy.

YABVU.

Yanbu.

The way it is now, the rich/wealthy can chose between either a first class state education because they can afford to pay the extra couple of hundred thousand pounds houses cost in the vicinity (or inflated rent, come on £3500 per MONTH for a 3 bed house in the Sheen Mount catchment area) or pay for private.

Those who cant afford either, will have to either find religion (and be hypocrits if they are not religiously inclined), or make do with a "satisfactory" school.

There seem to be no inbetween.

I think if you can afford private anything health care, schooling then you are morally obliged to use it to free up resources.

Well Ishani, I think that if you are physically and mentally capable of working, then you should, in order to free up resources, but that doesn't seem to happen either does it? Morals anyone? It's not just the rich who take the piss.

And what level would you set as being able to afford it? Anyone earning £100K+ has to go private, but those on £99,999 don't? Hardly fair.

Ishani, with that thinking, would you say that a SAHM should home educate to free up resources?

Yabu. if rich people have to send their kids to private school they should receive a refund on the tax they pay that would support the kids in a state school (about 5k per annum). The answer is to raise the standards in all state schools so that everyone has access to an outstanding education without either buying their way in through a house in the right catchment or via private education. As a higher rate tax payer I'm sick to death of being seen as a cash cow, why not just increase taxes to 100% and be done with it - just watch how many wealthy individuals will leave, and they will because they are far more able to do so, there's your tax base gone, try paying for all the benefits and services then! rant over.

Is every SAHM capable of home educating no, so hardly the same, I don't expect any DIY surgery either but yes there should be a cut off point of say £40,000 after which you decide do you want a levy of 2% to use the state system or do you want to go private and not pay the additional charge.

They do keep threatening to leave these higher rate tax payers and yet they never do, is it possibly because they have it rather good here in the UK ?

Ishani - £40K? When boarding school averages £25K a year? I think you might need to redo your sums.

I'd like to see how people on £40K reacted being forced to pay a levy of 2% to use the NHS, or Council Services, never mind education. You'd have riot on your hands.

Good God
I have heard some twaddle on here but really.

if all of the people who could afford private school took their kids out then there would still not be enough places in the "good" state schools. there are infact very few families across the country that can afford £thousands a term per child and I am sure that within those that do pay for private education some can't quite afford it!

We could afford (thanks to grandparents) to send the boys to private school but we have no intention of doing that, we have a lovely village school which we support in many ways. You need to do alot more talking to convince me my child should not be entitled to go there.

Another thing, I'm really hopeful of sending DS to one of the local outstanding upper schools near my home, after Prep. So I really don't like this OP.

It will be good for him (it's very academic, sporty and has pupils from a very wide range of backgrounds), good for me (a little more money in my pocket to spend in the flagging economy).

Are you seriously suggesting I should keep him private, thereby perhaps making him become a frightful snob and unused to mixing with "ordinary" people (like his own Mum), simply because my DH earns a lot?

What a lot of tosh!

Hmmm... AIBU to think that those who believe the OP is correct haven't been able to get their children into the state schools of their choice?

Probably I am but this does sound like sour grapes to me.

No matter how rich I was I wouldn't pay for private school, as I generally don't think it's better - by which I mean that it just doesn't fit with our family ethos about Education, if that makes sense. No way would I pay for something just because of reputation, when we didn't agree with the principles. TBH if we were seriously rich we would probably travel all over the place and homeschool so we wouldn't want to be tied to a school anyway :o

Sooooo YABU.

ishani, I personally know of 3 families who have left the UK in the last 2 years as they had the ability to set their firms up elsewhere with a lower tax base, combined income around £1million, there's a lot of tax out the door. In one instance the relocation of the firm made several individuals redundant, another loss of tax. In the other two cases quite a few staff relocated with them,more tax gone. But you carry on thinking that everyone will stay here being bleed dry.

Bled not bleed, stupid fat fingers!

A riot lol, people in this country haven't the balls to riot.
£25k boarding schools arent the only option, extremes are always sited aren't they, lack of imagine it's state school or Eton, nothing in between.

I don't believe that parental wealth should determine the quality of education so YABU. I could afford private but want my children to mix with children from many backgrounds so they go to the local state school.

YABU. Education, NHS, indeed the basic state pension - all funded by taxpayers and therefore open to all.

YABU. If your vision was realised it's entirely possible that bursaries/scholarship places would be dispensed with in favour of offering fully paid places to the rich. Thus even less children from poorer backgrounds would have the chance of a decent education than they do now.

I wonder though if IABU to want to have the heads examined of all those who can afford an independent education for their children but who prefer not to? :o

YABU, as already pointed out just because someone earns more you want them to pay for schooling/healthcare over and above taxes!?

Words defy me on this one...

YABU,they pay their taxes, don't they? They can't win, if they use state schools or hospitals they're chewing up resources, if they go private, they're part of a horrible elitist system, depending on who you listen to.

Ishani, you're having a laugh aren't you? Thinking everyone on 40k can afford private healthcare and to send however many children they've got to private school??? 40k is a good salary, but it doesn't make you fabulously wealthy.

Ishani - you know nothing about me! I pay £10K a year for DS's prep school education, but out of £40K that would be 25%. Gross.

Most private upper schools are boarding and, whether you like it or not, the average cost is between £22k and £28Kfor full boarding. Not just for Eton, these are "normal" boarding schools. Google some why don't you?

DH and I are only 'wealthy' because we worked very hard at school when everybody else was pissing about and have never stopped fucking working ever since.

Why then should we be penalised in the way the OP suggests

YABVU