If you can afford to send your kids privately SHOULD you?

[Flum]

Just that really

Other than expecting people to be able to meet their basic (subsistence) needs, I do not think there should be compulsion on others on how they SHOULD spend. Ever.

Why do you think that?

Self determination and personal choice.

The question isn't whether private schools should exist, but whether people SHOULD use them if they have a certain income level. I wouldn't be at all happy if "they" (whoever "they" may be) were telling me how to spend my money - beyond that which us already taken in taxes.

What people do or don't do with after tax income should be their choice. Interference in citizens' domestic spending choices woul be a big lurch towards the totalitarian.

No

No, you should choose the best school for your children. I have taught plenty of children where parents could have paid but chose not to.

No. You shouldn't.

No. We could have afforded to send ds private but chose a state grammar.

If he'd struggled academically then we would probably have sent him to a private school, though.

That depends on what you mean by "should".

Should you because you can afford it and take the burden off the state system?

If those who can afford it are compelled to use private education, isn't that just another way of means testing education?

No. My private school did a heck of a lot of damage. Now I'm an adult, it's time to stop blaming and start living and taking responsibility for my part. But I still wouldn't hand over money to damage my child's emotional health.

No, of course not. I pay my taxes like anyone else, so why shouldn't my dc benefit from the excellent state schools in my area?

No

No, but perhaps you should spend some of your surplus money on helping to fund state schools well!?

Not unless you want to.

We did, as the state school we were allocated was beyond woe.

Best decision ever for him BTW.

Can't speak for anyone else though.

i.e. if you can afford to send your children to a private school, perhaps you should be paying more taxes to improve state schools!

You choose the best school for your DC and it isn't necessarily the private one.
There are excellent state schools and dire ones and everything inbetween and the same in private schools.
If you have the money you have an extra choice and there is no should -you are free to choose.
I would be likely to choose state but that isn't to do with should, it is to do with the fact that I want my DCs to have a wide social mix.

i.e. if you can afford to send your children to a private school, perhaps you should be paying more taxes to improve state schools!

How much more than 50% tax would you like some of us to pay?

I was going to add more but exoticfruits has answered perfectly.
You should no more have to use private education than you should have to buy a certain car or shop in a certain supermarket. Freedom of choice is paramount.

No.
The fees I pay are entirely my choice.

That said, when we turned down the place for DD at a high achieving grammar, a friend told me she thought I had done the right thing, as it would free up a space for a child whose parents could not afford to go private. I must admit howver, that altruism didn't impact that decision.

Well ... I suppose I could afford it if I sold my house and moved into a studio flat. I still wouldn't though, because she has luckily got into an excellent state secondary school which I am very happy with and can easily rival the local private schools. If she hadn't got in there, I would have had more of a dilemma ...

No, That's crazy.
I have one in private, 2 in state, btw, so no axe to grind. Each according to their needs.

That's like asking if someone can afford it SHOULD they go on a long flight to an expensive hotel for a holiday.

There are lots of environmental reasons that no doubt you could raise about people taking long unecessary flights. There are also ethical issues around human rights, political corruption and exploitation of labour in many countries that are tourist destinations.

In the end though, everything we do has some potential 'externality' effect on other people and we would end up living in a cave and eating gruel if we follow that arguement to its ultimate end.

So long as I pay my taxes and pay for my childrens' schooling myself - I think the externality effect is relatively small and it comes down to personal choice. If I had great state grammar schools in my area that is where my DSs would be going and I woudl save the money.

Funny how a large proportion of the teachers at my DSs private school also send their children there on a 50% staff discount. Not all teachers it seems are against private schooling.

How do you define affordability, though? We can " afford" to send all ours but we prefer to use state at the moment because the local primary is fantastic, small and the heart of the small community. The nearest prep is seven miles away.
If we had to send them all it would have an impact on how many holidays we took, how often we eat out, how frequently my cleaner came etc etc which would impact the economy in a different way.

can I afford my present lifestyle with 5 sets of school fees? No. Can I objectively afford it? Yes. But who's to judge?

Besides, do you really want to send your children to schools where every child with parents over a certain income has been creamed off? isn't that how sink schools develop? Wouldn't that have only a very negative effect on state schooling in general?

No