To wonder how one would go about abolishing private schools?

[Chuffin]

If anyone is following the @abolisheton campaign, they state their aim is to integrate private schools into the public sector and hope this to be included in Labours next manifesto.

My children are about to start independent school, having had a terrible time for a whole host of reasons in their state primary.

Aside from the moral argument for or against private schools, I am very interested in whether it would be legally possible to abolish private schools and how this would happen? Would this even be feasible realistically?

I do feel some sort of apology is in order? Or at least asking for your post to be deleted.

I am very sorry for the offensive post. i admit my analogy was inappropriate ...

My parents benefited from the grammar system, moving from working class to middle class in a generation. I missed out by 2 years when our LEA closed down the grammar schools and converted them into comps.
Funnily enough though we were heavily segregated/streamed so that the top stream had no real contact with lower streams. We might have well been in a separate top stream school(grammar school). Perhaps the only benefit was that we were streamed according to actual ability rather than how we performed on the day of our 11+.
Oh no wait we had to take a test at junior school that was used to stream us!
Most of the top stream went onto 6th form then uni or college. Very few of the lower streams made the leap up to the top stream so comps, in the early days, were no different than grammar schools.
I chose an independent education for DC. My own education allowed me to follow a career path that gave me the choice. My dCs school is very similar to my own comp back in the mid 70s in the ethos, rules and discipline. It is academically selective but sport and outside activities are very important to encourage competitiveness. Not everyone’s cup of tea but that’s why ‘one size fits all’ doesn’t work.
Perhaps what I am really trying to say is that my parents’ grammar school education has been the foundation for my education and my dcs ‘privileged’ education. I make no apology for my choice I am just very grateful for the leg up our family had.

I didn’t much like mainstreet’s post. I think it was intended to be lighthearted but wasn’t in very good taste.

However, I’m not convinced that it is okay to demand apologies from other posters, BertrandRussell. If you don’t think someone’s posts are acceptable then report them using the report button. Suggesting that “some sort of apology is in order” is creepy.

Christ so let me get this right
I sent my kids to a inadequate rated comprehensive, for those who like to know yes our 1st choice and only one. They are 3rd generation to go, see it's not only Eton/Harrow and co where this happens, sadly no Panama accounts here
I am therefore (according to mumsnet and it's private education heavy clients) not only risking their futures/akin to child abuse/sacrificing their lives/needing to provide stab vests/manuals on how to hide from chair throwers/bullies and never play sport again.
I am now a communist, Stalinist, Trotskyist, Marxist, Leninist, GDR supporting fascist/Nazi.
please note my eldest year got 98.7% of 387 kids into either work/FE/sixth form, and he has just got the equivalent to a 2:1 in his first year at Lincoln all on funding of around £4750/annum.

I still say state education is amazing.
Labour has an education policy already towards a national education service
Unlike many on here I have read it, for schools it aims to reduce all class sizes to under 30 for all 5, 6 and 7 yr olds and expand to future age groups when possible. raise funding to a higher national level, return the £150 million to schools by scrapping the apprenticeship levy they pay. Raise standards and look to fund SEN and special schools further.
Post 16 education increase funding, free travel, raise standards and individual learning paths. maintenance grants too.
HE return to grants and scrap tuition fees.
Plus an aim for free adult or heavily subsidised adult education for everyone.

See no plans to scrap public/private schools.

I only have CSE and NDA qualifications but I can see your schools are safe for now.
I always thought the private educated had the advantage of critical thinking and superior investigation skills, maybe it is just a sense of over confidence after all.

Finally if you want a truly social democracy type of country like the Scandinavians, I found at the last GE, the Greens where the true home of socialist in England. I am proud to say we as a family voted Green and now have a MEP to show for it.

Last point Britain isn't communist or capitalist, it is a planned economy, which as the best of both worlds, so a state education, health service, council services and benefits (socialist/communism) and free markets (regulated because if not you get the banks pre 2008). I learnt that in personal studies in 1982, and pass it on freely.
Though maybe I should charge those how use private schools so you believe it is true, after all if it's free it must be a Stalinist/fascist lie

*you’ll never make all children’s upbringings equal.

What you can do is make sure the same basic schooling is available to all (unless you homeschool).*

The same basic education is available to all - state. Some parents decide to opt out and go private or home school.

If you accept that you can’t make all DCs’ upbringings equal, why specifically target private schooling? Similar advantages can be obtained through parents spending their money on tutoring, clubs and extra curricular activities. If you eliminate one, you have to eliminate the other.

State education isn't equal, and not all of it is as good as it needs to be. It's easy to manipulate by catchment or non-meritocratic criteria such as 'faith'.
And then again, one size doesn't necessarily fit all. I sometimes think there should be more academic selectivity, and differential funding but with more state resources going to those who aren't, by virtue of nature or nurture, already at an advantage. Equity rather than equality.

Think the moral of the story here is that it's not possible to abolish private schools. Nor would most people want to.

make them all free

@FishCanFly that would be a good idea!

Actually, now that I've had time to think it over, I think it's a great idea. I'll be saving 30K a year on school fees. I can get a couple of tutors to make sure they stay in the top sets. With the spare 26k I can buy another property next to the school and rent it out,

Seriously though, this is what would happen. That spare 15K+ per DC per year saved would most likely be invested in property. Also, just out of interest where is my local council going to get the extra £6,200 for eldest and £4,700 for youngest to pay for their state school? I won't be paying for it because I've ALREADY paid for it in my taxes. I'll be 30K better off. I wasn't taking up school places, wasn't costing the council 11k a year, I was a net contributor.

I doubt it will ever happen. In order for it to work it would mean massive tax increases to fund the cost of the 615,000 privately schooled children in the UK.

yes tibetan I'll save a huge amount of money, so that can go towards tutors, specialist lesson and holidays in relevant areas. Or maybe just fund them through unpaid internships when they leave uni.

@TibetanCherryTree and @Fibbke feel your pain. So much money to be saved. Not feasible to get rid of private schools. But in a dream world where they were free with no other taxes, now that would be excellent.

Just love paying for everything twice 😂😂 FML. Private healthcare as I had the most horrific NHS experience with my pregnancy (luckily my consultant I have now is excellent, but not cheap), private schools... makes you wonder what they spend all this money from our taxes on really.

The cost of spaces and extra school buildings would be 3.5 billion. So fiscally not a great amount.

You haven't paid for it already, not how tax works.

But you are correct people will just buy their children advantages in otherways. Makes you realise we don't live in a meritocracy.

You can always break the system. If you want Private and it is not available you can go abroad or large groups of parents will buy properties near the best schools, like at the moment, but the property would become unobtainable. They would have the best tutors available. Similar to US there would be the rich elite groups of kids in state schools.

The same way that Theresa May went about establishing lots of new grammar schools.

Unsuccessfully.