To finally be looking forward to a GE?

[Cadela]

The past election/PM changes have been horrendous. The visceral disappointment was awful each time.

I can’t wait to actually celebrate this year. I know, I know, Labour are going to set fire to the economy and tax everyone £3mil each and it’ll cost you 4 trillion a month to send you kid to private school, and all women will perish immediately because only Tories know what a woman is

But finally! It’s been a long fucking time coming.

Why don't you consider private tutors?
I do realise some schools are awful at the moment but hopefully more money (from VAT funds) will be put into these and level up education for all.
Or would you prefer the playing field not to be equal?

@InTheUpsideDownToday ‘hopefully more money (from VAT funds) will be put into these and level up education for all’

ah you believe what kier says? He’s known to tell the truth. Never known him to lie.

The playing field will never be level unless you do the following:

• ban grammar schools
• ban private tutoring
• ban house price rises in catchment areas
• ban parents having the funds to take their DC on educational holidays
• ban parents paying for university fees

And that's just a small sample of the ways parents buy advantages for their DC. Private education is only 1 tiny element of this.

Some people will always have more money than others and therefore be able to give their DC advantages and opportunities that other DC won't get. There will never be a truly level playing field. Many wealthy parents chose to send their DC to state schools but then tutor them to ensure access to super selective grammar schools, pay their way through Uni, give them a deposit for a house etc etc.

Interesting. I've lived through labour and Tory governments too (you don't even have to be THAT old) and I would say the opposite. Things are significantly worse now than at the end of the Labour tenure.

You might find this link interesting.
https://www.shrewsburylabour.org.uk/labours-top-50-achievements/

@Zonder
Definitely agree with this. I've lived through a Thatcher government, Blair government and this current shower of shite.
The Blair government was an all too brief respite from the disastrous politics of selfishness.

Are you joking? People vote in accordance with the policies that benefit them personally. It's important to be mindful of wider political issues, of course. But it has always been thus.

@InTheUpsideDownToday I did consider home schooling but that would have been almost impossible unless I dramatically reduced my working hours.

My dc are academically able. They don’t need tutors to “catch up” or understand the work they’re set. They do need small class sizes, a large and welcoming SEN department and supportive teachers. They also need significant “stretch” in their work (which is built into the school structure).

I know children who are miserable all day at school and cope because they have tutors but tbh I just want them to be happy at school. Being in small classes with teachers who really know and get them is invaluable. (And I know there are plenty of children who have that in state schools too - but it’s tricker with SEN and varies so much by area)

No less than 20 of our Prime Ministers have been educated at Eton. Do you think their private education was just ‘a tiny element’ of that? It’s part of a much wider context of privilege, of course.

You’re right in that there will always be differing levels of material and cultural deprivation/privilege; however, the difference is that Labour at least attempt to lessen that divide and improve opportunity for those not born into privilege rather than just brush over it as an unchangeable fact to justify the status quo. For example, look at the recent study on how the Sure Start centres improved the health and educational attainment of those children who lived close to one. Nearly 1500 have closed since 2010, which is so short sighted, as data shows it reduced hospital admissions, lessened the need for intervention in schools and resulted in better GCSE results for those with access to a centre. What possible justification can there be for reducing the very thing that has proven to have an impact on actually making some sort of impact on levelling the playing field?

I 100% agree that closing sure start centres was a disaster and that state education system needs proper funding but Labour aren't committing to do that. They are tinkering around the edges.
Labour MPs consist of double the % of the national average of private school pupils.
All the policy will do is to widen the guld by making private schools purely for the wealthy and negatively impact the DC with SEN who currently attend private school because the state can't accommodate theor needs.

As we all benefit from a well educated population, the most sustainable way to raise the sort of money the state education system needs is through income tax.

More recent studies (ASI and EDK) are blowing holes in the IFS claim of 1.5 billion revenue and a more realistic net figure is now 0.8-1 billion which is less than 1% of the annual education budget. What meaningful impact can 1% of anything have?

All the policy will do is to widen the guld by making private schools purely for the wealthy

They’re purely for the wealthy now. It’s quite astonishing that you’re unable to understand this.

@BIossomtoes they’re not. They’re really not. Look at the bursaries that are available. Even at Eton.

Yes, the majority pay full fees. But historically many of these schools were set up to educate regardless of wealth and almost all schools offer significant bursary assistance.

https://www.etoncollege.com/admissions/scholarships-and-awards/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/hasan-patel-eton-college-scholarship-london-private-school-student-a8739941.html

Already looking forward to the Portillo moments 😁

They are not exclusively for the wealthy:

• bursaries. Approx 20% of all DC at private schools are on bursaries. These are the first things to go when VAT is introduced
• military kids. 1 DC at our school moved 8 schools in 3 years due to both parents being in military. MoD pays for fees
• SEN DC including state funded independent places

So no, not all parents are wealthy. Some of us use our money to pay for education instead of a bigger house etc.

How about wealthy parents who can afford to move to catchment areas of great state schools or those who tutor for super selectivd grammars?

Some of us don't live in London so fees aren't the 30K+ that they are down there plus with cheaper housing etc.

My partner and I are in this group. However we see the damage that the Tories have inflicted on our nhs and so could never vote for the bastards.

I admit that I do find it odd when an nhs worker admits to voting for the Tories. Especially when evidence of their callousness is all around us every day.

I'll be honest. I'm quite afraid of whoever gets in. 3 children with SEN, we're at their mercy.

@daliesque not something I’d admit to irl. However, there are quite a few people who are quiet about who they might vote for so I suspect I’m not alone… And this will be my first Tory vote.

Private schools currently are for the wealthy, just as they’ve always been. While I appreciate that we are all individuals free to prioritise our own childrens’ needs and totally empathise with anyone with a child with SEN struggling in an underfunded state school who chooses an alternative provision, but a vote for Tories won’t remedy that system and they’re a small percentage of the overall private school intake. I think we all know the reasons why the vast majority of parents choose to send their children to private school and it has little to do with altruism like freeing up state school spaces. In the city in which I live, the wealthiest families live in the catchment of the best state schools and many still send their children to private school.

And Labour’s tax policy on private schools isn’t their only tax policy - see my earlier post on their strategy to focus on the tax gap (worth £36 billion in 2021/2). Their proposed investment in housing and health will also massively impact on educational achievement.

Well considering it will only bring in net approx. 0.8 billion I would expect that they will have other tax plans otherwise that 0.8 billion will have to stretch incredibly far.

Being in a position to make the choice between private education or a bigger house IS wealth and privilege.

So of private schools have always been for the wealthy are you admitting that Starmer himself was wealthy?

No. HTH.

But you said private schools are for the wealthy?

He went to a Grammar School
in the 1970s. Do you think that currently a nurse and a toolmaker could afford to send their child to a private school?