Education should be a private good

[StaffAssociationRepresentative]

Given the high levels of dissatisfaction with regards education should we not now make it a private good? The government should only provide education for free for those who are below the poverty level and then provide a sliding scale of support in a manner similar to child support. This will then give some schools the chance to charge more to ensure that any provision can be properly funded.

This will lead to happier schools, happier staff, happier pupils and a happier Mumsnet. Parents will therefore be free to buy provision that they want.

YABU - let education continue as it is
YANBU - fully privatise and let parents decide

Schools HAVE become more commercial and business like, since, what, 2010?

Anyway, what I would actually like is for people to realise how expensive it would actually be to educate their kids if there was no state involvement, I’m assuming in your model OP private schools are no longer charities and are taxed accordingly? They are also taking on the cost of training teachers?

This is a stupid OP so i shouldn’t really engage with it, but you do realise WE DID THIS in the 19th century, why are you looking at the Victorian age thinking, ah yeah... pretty good model for society there.

So therefore why don’t we all pay more tax and fund our future properly ?

Well that would be a slippery fucking slope.

Just say "fuck the poor".

Let’s put VAT up to 25% or increase income tax, maybe introduce more tax bands. Ring fence the money for education

I am into paying more tax. I don’t object to paying Scandinavian level taxes in return for Scandinavian services 🤷🏻‍♀️

Although I would want amazon And google to be Paying their taxes too.

What kind of society do you want to live in?
It benefits everyone, including government to have an educated society with a decent access for everyone.
I don’t think your solution will lead to a happier society at all. It will lead to the total opposite with more strain on the health service and higher crime rates.

I would have preferred that every child gets a "voucher" worth of a year of the government contribution towards their education (currently around £5K), and state schools are obliged to offer a place in exchange for the voucher with no further charge. And independent schools are obliged to take the voucher as a contribution towards the school fees.

"Education" as a public good/charitable aim doesn't just mean school though. An awful lot of charities have education as their purpose. I think you'd be making far wider sweeping changes than you realise.

@firstmentat is that the figure for how many children are in state schools presently? If so it’ll decrease if we include children in private schools.
I think 15 hours free, no matter what, like nursery is the most sensible. I suppose up to private schools whether or not to accept it, as it is towards their nurseries?

Ridiculous and really quite vile.

We have had compulsory education in the UK for 140 years.

It is very much a public good to have - at a minimum - high levels of literacy and numeracy.

It is ethically indefensible to throw the children of the poor and disinterested under the bus, ruining their life chances.

Look at our prison population for a start,

Let’s put VAT up to 25% or increase income tax, maybe introduce more tax bands. Ring fence the money for education

Oh go away. Go and play your goad-a-minute game somewhere else.

The government don't have any idea how much things cost. That's why benefits are rubbish. The sliding scale will be too low and those on lower wages will have to chose between food and school. Does that sound fair?
I don't see why it would make teachers happier. Won't expectations just be higer?

@ABucketOfShells
Yes, depending on the school and primary / secondary, but say on average. It's the funding for the actual headcount in the schools currently, so you are right, it will have to be decreased if shared between all children.
Another alternative, which actually exists in many countries - is to make private education fees tax deductible.

@firstmentat So, that would mean what exactly, in practice, reduced private school fees? How about those who can’t afford any contribution? How does this work in the countries it’s practiced in?

It's a merit good (good for the recipient, good for society). It has some public good features.

The OP is arguing for essentially a school voucher system. A right wing think tank kind of argument that cannot account for the community aspects of schools.

I would say start by reforming the admissions system, personally.

I think this a simply marvellous idea and, as I don't have children, I look forward to my tax rebate of the element that would have gone to education.

No.

What I want is for schools to be properly funded. At the moment they are not. So the choice is more privatisation to higher taxation - that is the choice

@Pelleas - I'm sorry. I did read your post in the wrong way. It would have to be still quite a high threshold though for most people to be able to afford the 'above and beyond'.

£100 per week is possibly affordable if you only have one child. Larger families would find it harder. A choice between food, rent / mortgage & education. Changes in circumstances. Means tested education? No thanks.

@AravisTarkheena - yes companies such as google and amazon need to pay their fair share, as does everyone who is not PAYE.

You haven't answered a pps question about what would happen to SEN provision. Do you envisage parents of children who have SEN paying extra for additional help?

@ArriettyJones - it is not goady it is looking for a way to increase funding for our schools. We really struggle to balance the books at schools. For some schools if it was not for an active PTA there would be few nice things for the children

You would literally have to assess actual disposable income. Or for me the better option in my opinion would to be abolish private and grammar schools altogether, equalise people's access to the education system and provide equitable access to a range of opportunities.

This is exactly why academies exist, and they’re worse than regular state schools. The money doesn’t get distributed properly, often is just means SLTs get to pay themselves more and the rest have to fight over what’s left. Schools aren’t businesses, treating them as such just means schools work in the best interests of profits rather than student welfare and results.