Abolishing private schools - how would it work in practice?

[Dongdingdong]

Labour has voted to abolish private schools:

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/labour-public-private-school-abolish-eton-vote-conference-corbyn-education-policy-a9115766.html

Whether you agree with this or not, I don’t understand how the logistics would work. Would private schools suddenly cease to exist from say, summer 2023, with all pupils forced to find a place at the local state school for the autumn term onwards? What would happen to the buildings and facilities - would they remain as state schools or be sold off to developers for example?

What constitutes a faith school? In a number of villages around where I live the primary schools are Church of England. They are the only schools in those villages and have been around for years. The land will be owned by the church. Are people saying they should be closed down?

Or I suppose I could just send DS to Brighton college if its going to be free

I think what would have been a vote winner for Labour, and actually more useful for social mobility - revitalising Sure Start Centres, and making more youth centres.

The government takes and distributes assets all the time, in the form of taxation. Is that communism?

I'm afraid you've just revealed your ignorance. Taxation is an essential function of any liberal, democratic state. Asset seizure is quite different - it is a violation of human rights under international and European law.

Trewser I agree that there are some families that don't believe in the value of education and don't agree with the culture that values good discipline, uniforms etc. However it is not family wealth that defines whether or not you value these things, so the gate keeping criterion should not be the ability to pay fees.

Yes, it's a question of degrees. The government takes and distributes assets all the time, in the form of taxation

But what is proposed is not taxation, taxation would be abolishing the charitable status VAT.

This is different.

As for the NHS, they are private practices and hospitals alongside the state system.

Taking away assets is communism, simple as that.

What is also communist is the sheer hypocrisy of the Comrades, the way they do as it suits but make the masses do as they say.

Sending their children to private schools while denying it to others is exactly the way communist elite behaved.

I'm afraid you've just revealed your ignorance.

And sorry, I missed the link for the alleged racism?

And sorry, I missed the link for the alleged racism?

Who said anything about alleged racism?

The defenders of private schools often seem to making an argument along the lines of "It's impractical to abolish racism, and plus, I'm white, so I benefit from it"

You did.

You did.

I think I was making an argument that a was perhaps a little bit subtle.

What was your argument?

Forget the subtlety, imagine we're all comrades here.

I'll explain it more simply. It's fairly widely agreed that private education enhances the privileges of one group (those who attend) against another (those who don't attend). The basis of the system is that people use their financial resources to buy privilege for their children (except those who have full scholarships).

Many people who defend the system are beneficiaries of the system.

The defenders of private schools often seem to making an argument along the lines of "It's impractical to abolish racism, and plus, I'm white, so I benefit from it".

Oh, this is simply awesome. Possibly the stupidest comment I’ve ever read on MN.

What constitutes a faith school? In a number of villages around where I live the primary schools are Church of England. They are the only schools in those villages and have been around for years. The land will be owned by the church. Are people saying they should be closed down

No because they don't select by faith. I went to a CofE primary school but it was the village school and everyone went there. It's different to the schools which do select by faith and will tell the child living next door that they can't go there.

As for private schools, it doesn't matter how good state schools get, there will always be parents who want to ensure their kids don't have to mix with the plebs and therefore send them privately. If not here, overseas. For years I've seen a similar thing with our local sports centre swimming lessons. Until recently it was still council run and the lessons were reasonably priced and the teachers were and are very good, with a couple of exceptions. But you always had some parents, regardless of lesson quality, who don't want their kids going to "council" lessons and look elsewhere and probably actually select lesser quality lessons but they must be better because they are private.

Yes, and you alluded to racism, so what you are saying is that posters who don’t agree with the abolishment of the private education system to racists.

I wonder whether you count all the Labour apparatchiks as racists too.

@Trewser Yes, you are right; I searched up James Abbott-Thompson's profile on LinkedIn and, following his stint at the prestigious City of London School, he attended a (private) international college in Ghana, before taking a Law degree at Trinity College, the University of Cambridge.

He then spent nearly five years in various diplomatic roles working for the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (was that at the same time his mother was shadow foreign secretary, I wonder?)

To paraphrase George Orwell, all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.

Labour, your blatant hypocrisy and politics of envy and spite have cost you my vote. AND I don't even have a child at private school.

The ones who send their children to private schools, of course.

Oh, this is simply awesome. Possibly the stupidest comment I’ve ever read on MN.

Welcome, our good friend Dunning-Kruger

I actually don't really see how you can ban private schools though - it's incredibly draconian to say that the only way you can access an education is via the state run mouthpiece. You'd have to ban home-schooling too. That's going to go down like a lead balloon.

All my most leftie friends send their kids to private schools.

I am right wing and my DC go to state schools.

Corbyn's a fool!

Yes, and you alluded to racism, so what you are saying is that posters who don’t agree with the abolishment of the private education system to racists

I think you've missed a word, but if I interpret your post correctly, I'll say that no, I clearly didn't say that.

So the analogy here is that parents who use their money to advantage their children are like white people who using their white privilege to advantage themselves/their children?

What do you think the point of money is? What sort of barriers to me using my money to advantage my children do you propose?

Basically, seizure of private property. He'll be calling for every school to have a compulsory 5 minute hate at the beginning of every day next.

I don't think abolishing them is the way forward. I think making the state sector as good, if not better, is the way forward. That means funding, which is currently not happening. At all. Abolishing them would basically be saying, because the majority of people cant have it, neither can you. It's not the governments, or the oppositions, decision on where kids go to school. It's the parents. And I say this as someone who was educated privately, but sends her own son to a state nursery

Except the mega rich who would move their kids abroad.
@Tweefutom I came on to say the exact same thing. The mega rich would pack their DC off to board abroad, and unis would take them because foregn students pay more, so the rift between super rich and normal woud just get wider and wider. It will never go away.