To think that there would be less anti private school

[Poopoolittlekitten]

sentiment or threads on MN if people using private school were a tiny bit more self aware and didn’t ask for sympathy for rising fees or possible rising fees if Labour take away their false ‘charity’ status?

send your kid private if you want, just don’t come moaning about the costs or claim than anyone can go private if they ‘prioritise’ their child’s education they way you do. Particularly at a time when state school teachers are striking over pay and conditions.
And many, many people are working their socks off just to keep a roof over their family’s head.

YANBU - stop whining and looking for sympathy about your fees!

YABU - my milkman sends his 4 kids private by ‘prioritising’ their education so it’s not just for whiny poshos….

But I was pointing it out because with wearying regularity posters on these threads throw in the 'what about all the tuition state school pupils are bought?'

No more regular than the endless repeated posts which I’ve listed earlier. That one about at university being asked where they went to school comes up several times in every thread about private schools.

Societies do best if the most disadvantaged are well educated because reduces crime and picks up from struggling families. Private schools do the opposite. Those who send their children private have a vested interest in state schools doing badly so they get their moneys worth. Divides society.

@Anotherusernameagainitseems sinister… possibly true.

‘Those who send their children private have a vested interest in state schools doing badly so they get their moneys worth. ‘

hopefully not.

Those who send their children private have a vested interest in state schools doing badly so they get their moneys worth.

I don’t think I’ve heard that one before.

It’s more they want their children to come out on top, and obvs they don’t care about state schools or funding or teachers there or any of that. Alt least not the ones I know.
They’re all ‘relieved ‘ that they don’t have to deal with any fall out from strikes , fair enough, but don’t seem to think it affects them in anyway at all, or that good education across the board benefits everyone.

but that’s what they pay for, so why should they care?

Well, strikes don't affect us, and I am relieved about that. I do understand state education is in a dire state (in our area anyway). It would be great if state education was better and more consistent, but as it isn't, I use private schools. I don't have any delusions that by sending my dcs to the local state it will magically become better!

That's quite short term thinking. There's a very real possibility that somewhere down the line I'll have grandchildren in the State system. I can't just bury my head in the sand for the next twenty or thirty years.

I have never moaned about private school prices. I don't mind a 50% payrise if they stop packing the private schools with special needs kids who might slow progress down. I suspect it wouldn't make a difference anyhow. People who can't afford things hate people that can.

That's simply not true. I do despair at the state of comprehensive schools and strikes eventhough we will be sending our daughter to a selective private school in September. Please do not generalise.

Has it occured to you that many of these private school customers likely contribute even more tax to the state school system than others.

You do know that charitable status and VAT aren't connected, right?

You don't pay VAT on potatoes from Tesco, but you do pay it on soft furnishings from Oxfam.

Meanwhile, back in the real world the privileged parents will use tutors or home educate and the sink comps continue to be sink comps.

'Meanwhile, back in the real world the privileged parents will use tutors or home educate and the sink comps continue to be sink comps.'

This attitude that private schools are all fantastic and state schools shite, REALLY pisses me off because the reality is state schools are good, diverse, interesting places with skilled QUALIFIED teachers who bring a wealth of experience and knowledge to the job. A bigger school with more pupils from a cross section of the community can bring so much to a school, from the skills, talent and interests of the kids to the imput from parents.

Where are all those 'good' state schools that you're speaking of? Certainly not in my town, where the only two secondary schools have been rated as 'requiring improvement' 4 (!) years ago and haven't changed since.

That's just a batshit claim. Most parents of kids in private schools sent them there because the state provision was already inadequate. If state schools were consistently good, they could have spent that money on something else.

I don't care if any kids I have come out 'on top' or not. I just want them to be happy at school, because I wasn't. If the end result of it is that they spend their adult lives busking around Europe, what does it matter as long as it's what they want? Music and language provision are often better in private schools so this would enable them to do this. Of course if they wanted to become an investment banker then they've got that choice opened to them too.

I'd be delighted if everyone had access to a rounded education, but seeing as that utopia isn't coming any time soon, don’t expect me to sacrifice my kids' happiness by putting them into the rough local comp out of some desire for moral purity.

No one said that. Perhaps your reading comprehension needs work.

Your local comp may be thriving. My local comp might not be. Until we have consistently good state education then people who live in areas where it falls short will try to find other ways to help their kids, where they have the ability.

Sort out state schools across the board (not just the ones in naice areas with strong PTAs etc.), and the demand for private schools will dry up of its own accord.

Why are so many teachers striking if state schools are so great? Even the people working in state schools admit that they cannot offer a good standard of education because of a lack of funding in areas where it’s needed, and are often unable to teach because of disruptive pupils. Those “skilled qualified teachers” are leaving the state sector in droves. The state sector is struggling to recruit.

It's Wednesday. I see OP is still doing her best to whip up the usual stereotypes and is desperately trying to get someone to complain about school fees so she can claim offence.

OP, you would have been better just starting a thread, "I am angered about the existence of private schools and those who use them." I mean, fair enough, if that's how you feel. I don't know why you tried to couch it in this nonsense about what people can or can't complain about on MN. It's blatantly obvious why you started this thread, so just own it. You are entitled to your view. It's ok.

What you've are not entitled to do is assume the role of some kind of moderator about what people can or can't post about.

This is not your personal WhatsApp group. It's a free and open forum - aka the internet - which anyone anywhere is free to post on about anything at any time. You don't have to like it. God knows why you would expect AIBU to be tailored to your sentiments or only to be reflective of a particular demographic. Have a reality check. People will be reading MN in countries with very different education systems. In fact, many families who use private schools in the U.K. we're not even born here.

'Obviously struggling to pay for private school fees is not the same as struggling to pay for food,'

er, no it's really, really not.

Just as well no one said otherwise then, isn’t it?

You really are trying to start a fight aren't you! Now picking on posters that you agree with 😄

Actually quite a few posters have clarified that they don't think all state schools are dreadful - just the ones in their area.

Just like quite a few posters have acknowledged that they are privileged to ve able to afford private, but that doesn't mean they can afford the steep fee rires.

These threads are going around in circles! Time to call it a day on this topic.

Personally I don’t get the whole hatred towards private schools. Surely it is better some people spend on education, a generally good thing, of the future workforce than on an expensive holiday abroad (not much benefit to the UK economy) or an expensive German car? Sure you get the VAT on the latter, but in the long term the government benefits more from the well educated workforce. Does it not?

And as regards those who can afford all of it, then their total wealth should be taxed not some people struggling to pay fees for SEN kids.

‘These threads are going around in circles! Time to call it a day on this topic.’

people post on what interests them. Just because you don’t like it or don’t agree with some opinions doesn’t mean you, or anyone else shut down conversations.
As always, if a topic or even poster annoys you - keep moving! Don’t click on the post, don’t engage, don’t comment.
There are 100s of posts and topics on MN that I don’t see the point of, so I ignore them.
I pile on to shout about how the OP is wrong, or shouldn’t have posted or bang on about other posts they’ve made.
You don’t like a topic, you’re bored? Then MOVE ON.