To wonder if Private School parents think we can’t read?

[Captainmycaptains]

Work/volunteer in Education so following the whole VAT debate.

SM is full of private parent groups ‘organising’ to get the proposed VAT on fees cancelled - fine you would, wouldn’t you esp.if you’re used to getting your own way.

They’re advocating hassling local schools, councils, demanding stats and figures that don’t exist, wiring to MPs - telling people to ‘claim’ their state place to ‘disrupt’ the ‘system’ while also saying ‘ Obvs we won’t be taking Charlotte and Hugo out of school, we’ll find the money’ etc strive harder, getting granny to chip in’ but this might make the council ‘panic’.

Do they think that people in support of the VAT aren’t seeing/hearing/reading all of these plans???

the funniest one yet is the poster who said ‘ well going to claim our state school places then! See how they like that! We’ll going holiday, pay the mortgage down, shop at Waitrose and save £700k in the process, ha!’
I. no you aren’t 2. Okay - go for it! Who on earth would think £700k is worth it?? Behave like a normal person then…

YANBU - yeah, they’re noisy as expected but the rest of us are as think/ concerned as they seem to think. Also - it’s too late for Sept - waiting lists only…

YABU - applying for school places you have no intention of using is daft, and of course everyone can see what they’re trying to do.

I think taxation on education is wrong.

I like the EU stance on it.

And this policy is proof that Labour will not be seeking to rejoin, or join any European trading agreement that requires sales tax harmonisation.

mist of us are supportive of taxes we won't have to pay

Speak for yourself

I would suport paying more taxes - for example inheritance tax (as private school is irrelevant for me )

currently I would come no where near paying tax on anything I might inherit from my mother and I might get a tea towel from my aunts

If the inheritance limits were changed had to pay tax on that I wouldn't be starting endless threads moaning

I would be glad to support the nhs and education and people who need a bit more to survive

Because I can see that a privilege is not a right , that privilege harms society , that shared services are more effective and efficient and cheaper than every woman for themselves

I can see that I am not more important or special than anyone else who many nevertheless have far less than I have . I work hard. So do many others . I have unique and special skills. So do many others .

They are both top 50 names. I know more working class Charlottes than privately educated. Same with Hugo, but I only know 1.

I didn’t even note there was any connotation or link between those names or private schooling, aren’t they both (and particularly Charlotte) relatively neutral and common names for children of school has. You could read the same connotation into George and Florence, which are top 10 names so surpass class.

I'd love some privately educated DC turning up at DC comprehensive...
Welcome to the real world of overcrowded classrooms with an overwhelmed supply teacher trying to do a bit of behaviour management.

Forget about teaching any real content.

In 95% of cases, I can't see it happening.

I think tax on education is wrong too. (My DCs are in state schools, BTW).

I'm sure there's a wide range of attitudes and behaviours amongst private school parents. I suspect a noisy minority are getting a disproportionate share of attention and obviously it suits the current government if people make a big deal out of this topic as it distracts attention from a lot of other things.

I think, if we were going to create a luxury tax (in addition to VAT, which is a general sales tax) then it might be better to take that as a policy initiative in its own right, and decide what should be included

That would be another policy that would take us further away from the EU though (but there does seem to be considerable support for doing that)

Private schools may well be perceived as promoting inequality but what about the inequality in state schools which serve 93% of the population?

There's a world of difference between an outstanding state school or grammar (many comparable to indie schools) and one requiring improvement.

Why not do away with catchment areas preventing people from buying houses in the best areas?

I think regardless of your opinion on this surely everyone can understand why people don’t want prices for anything they pay for to increase by 20% - not just education.

It will be a concern and therefore people will discuss it. Which is fine.

It’s undeniable a lot of private school parents are throwing a tantrum about this. Some of the comments are awful. But so are some of the comments from people who are clearly delighted this is happening. Probably better for both sides who believe passionately about this to quietly vote their beliefs rather than argue online about it.

I have to say though I do object to comments along the lines of “let’s see how they get on at state school” (some of which are on this thread). I think people are forgetting this is children they are talking about. Changing school is a big thing for any child (not just moving from private to state).

Children don’t get to choose the family they are born into or (generally) the school they get to go to - they are dealt the hand they are dealt.

Have a go at the parents for choosing private. Have a go at the system for allowing private schools to exist. Vote to impose VAT on school fees. All absolutely fine. But wanting children to suffer on the altar of your politics makes you a pretty terrible person in my view. And I think people making these kind of comments need to have a long hard look in the mirror.

My concern is that Labour might declare that they have ‘fixed’ education due to giving schools this VAT money whereas it will do nothing. The money will be chicken feed. Fixing state schools will cost tens of billions, and all taxpayers should have to pay for it.

The people organising this tend to be parents of SEN kids in state school. Many SEN parents can barely afford existing fees. And I sympathise. Because the UK’s state school system ONLY works for wealthy nt kids.

Wow Charlotte is about the 15th most popular girls name in the UK. Who knew there were so many of them at private school!

That’s quite a chip you have there on your shoulder OP.

‘Wow Charlotte is about the 15th most popular girls name in the UK. Who knew there were so many of them at private school!’

Okay, so we’re all agreed then, using the name Charlotte while talking about kids at private schools is realistic? Great!

That’s not true as it happens it’s across the board. A couple of groups are up to nearly 10k members.

There are idiots on both sides.

Some who send their children to private school who seemingly have no idea how much some parents struggle (and the phrase 'we just cut back on luxuries!)

And some positively gleeful people who think every private school educated parent is trying to game the system by getting their little Edward into oxbridge. When actually many children are privately educated because they've been severely bullied or let down in state education.

You're in the latter, OP complaining about the former not realising that you're exactly the same 🤷‍♀️ thankfully most people have the intelligence for a more nuanced debate.

There are over 600,000 kids in independent education so 10K of parents is fairly low

The IFS have given the 3-7% estimate…the same IFS that said that Labour will need to raise general taxes despite Labour saying that they won’t. It’s interesting that Keir Starmer disagrees with IFS’ assessment of the latter but agrees with their report on private school VAT!

You’re such a cliché OP 😂😂

Do you feel ‘posh’ if you put silky PJs on 😂😂

Yep! Been typing in ‘private school’ in Facebook search bar 😂😂

Op it's easy to ridicule parents who are worried about having to pull their children midway but maybe try and have some empathy.

For the majority the money will just come from elsewhere eg. Stop the cleaner, go out for less meals, buy less clothes etc. so I'm not sure how that will help the wider economy and the vat will just be paid on school fees as opposed to elsewhere.

Keir Starmer know it's a vote winner.

Arguably though if he truly believes in a fair state system then he would scrap state faith school and catchment areas and issue places on a lottery.

Oh but hang on that won't win many votes....

Many state schools are appalling due to being cut to the bone. Children with very seriously high needs are dominating classes making life difficult for teachers and other pupils. Many children are now expected to get on with it in an overstretched state school with no EHCP and no support when what they need is a special school place or a 121. Teachers are leaving. Pupils are leaving, home school has exploded in the UK in recent years. Pupils don't want to go to school. There is a huge gap between state and private. I would rather home school than send my child to a failing state school. Many parents had to go private due to appalling local schools so what choice do they have now, get into debt, home school or send their child into a school which is damaging to a lot of children.

People organise and lobby for all sorts of causes. It’s their democratic right whether you like it or not.

This is not a tax on private schools but the removal of the charitable exemption for organisations that, arguably (and I would certainly argue this) do not exist for the common good; in fact, they exist in order to maintain privilege and division.

if private schools are the beacons of educational exceptionalism and charitable goodness that parents claim they are, why have they not collectively lobbied against this change? Why have they not carried out some basic business planning in order to protect pupils against disruption? Why have they not absorbed some of these costs?

Where have the private school parents been as our state schools have faced cuts after cuts after cuts? Why do they think it’s ok to simultaneously buy themselves out of the system and expect a tax rebate from the rest of us (via the charitable exemption)?

This.