Is banning private schools a workable solution?

[APMF]

Whenever the conversation turns to bias in favour of privately educated people there are always voices that shouts out - ban private schools!

Is this a badly thought out knee jerk reaction or am I missing something?

IMO if private schools were to be banned the following would happen.

a) the rich would educate their kids abroad. Aged 18 those kids will be back to grab those coveted uni places and, on graduating, the top jobs. So no change there.

b) some will choose to buy up the properties around the highly regarded state schools. Thus driving up prices and nudging aside your untutored DC which is what is happening in parts of London

c) Some will take the fees saved and hire tutors in order to give their dcs an advantage.

d) x thousands of kids will rejoin the state system thus busting an already over stretched system. Tax increases for everybody to pay for the extra resources and if you thought that it was hard getting into your over subscribed comp at the moment ......

As I said above, is banning private schools a badly thought out solution or am I missing something?

[Dromedary]

Presumably the government could take steps to reduce the influence of the Church of England in taxpayer funded state school education though? If it wanted to.

[wordfactory]

My understanding is that Home Education is illegal in Germany...or have I dreamed that?

[mam29]

yes its illegal in germany to home ed.

[Bonsoir]

If the state wants to take control of education, it pretty much can, à la française, by keeping a stranglehold on curriculum and examinations and teachers etc. But it's a bad idea - standards go down and down and down...

[rabbitstew]

Oh yes, the ECHR which the government hates so much.

[Chandon]

Does not matter if they hate it, it is part of British law!

[rabbitstew]

For as long as it's part of British law - for as long as pressure is put on the UK government to follow it. Have they decided on the votes for prisoners thing, yet?

[wordfactory]

rabbit the current administration have never had anyplans to remove choice in education, whether we are singned up to international law or not.

The Labour government did have plans...but the Badman Review didn't go how they wanted it to .

[rabbitstew]

wordfactory - I'm well aware the current government have no such plans - they are, after all, making education a free for all at the moment (whilst simultaneously dictating the exam system and when times tables should be taught - some clever way of persuading all schools to become Academies or set up as free schools so as to avoid increasingly ridiculous levels of interference whilst simultaneously claiming interference is being reduced?).

I was merely making the point that laws change, opinions change, politics changes, and conventions are interpreted in many ways by many different countries, or even roundly ignored by some, if they think they can withstand the political pressure/get away with it/convince others their interpretation is acceptable. So pah to the ECHR.

[NessaYork]

The whole idea of banning private education comes from the notion that 'one size fits all' is the only system of fairness. This is a fallacy. The existence of private education relieves the burden on the state of having to educate ALL children. Can you imagine if ALL children in this country had to go to state schools? The system would collapse. The children who would fare worst are the average, because the G&T club would get their special priviledges, and the SEN would get their rightly needed support. So the ones who are managed as a group, instead of according to their individual needs, are the 'classroom middle class'. Much better to have a system where those who can afford it can take their children elsewhere, and relieve the state of their part of that burden.
Forgive me if I'm revisiting old ground, but haven't read all 280 earlier messages. Thanks!

[Schmedz]

Not to mention that all the council tax paid by parents who send their children to private schools is actually still being used to fund the LEA. They are effectively paying twice (although admittedly a fraction of the cost of their independent school fees).