Private schools are not a choice

[daddiesrule]

Having read a few threads about private schools recently, I found an article on the DM which wound me up massively. It stated that sending your DC to private school was a choice; am I the only idiot who thinks this isn't true?

It's only a choice for those who can afford it - if your salary is not large enough to cover it, it is definitely not a choice. Why should children who have parents in low paid jobs not have the same access to education as those with parents who earn significantly more?

Secondly, the whole reason state schools are so poorly funded is because of private schools. If all MPs and political donors were forced to use the state sector, I reckon funding for education would increase over night.

It seems unreasonable to justify having a poorly funded education system because some affluent parents have to option to pay to avoid it. This is the opposite of social mobility.

The word 'choice' implies that there is more than one option available to you, and you can decide which you prefer.

Our total gross annual family household income was lower than the fees at a specialist independent school where dc was offered a place following an audition. The scholarship offered didn't even scratch the surface. Choice didn't come into it. The word 'impossible' was more appropriate.

JRM (love the name btw and entirely agree) you are in a minority though. Bursaries and scholarships are relatively rare. Also, many of us might be able to afford to go to Disney once, or have a new car once, but not every year for 13 years.

I didn't choose to live in a poky terraced house. I'd much rather have chosen a huge mansion with acres of grounds, but hey ho.

Well increase your earnings power if you want a mansion.

I didn't choose to live in a poky terraced house

Presumably you chose it over living in, say, a poky studio flat.

Exactly, you chose your own accommodation nobody else did! 🙄

It's a choice.
I think you mean 'it's not an option'.

People often confuse the two, saying 'i have two choices' when they mean they have one choice, to choose between two options.
Also, never read the Daily Mail.

OP, if it isn't a choice, what is it?!

It's not an option available to us, but if we could afford it, it wouldn't be mandatory would it?

*isitheck

Never been to Disney. Funnily enough, I can live with that (6 foot mouse, shudders) 😁

I take your point. Does piss me off though, we’ve done what we thought was best at the time for our kids with the local provision we had. I’ve had people I know giving us a hard time for our choices, people who earn considerably more than we do but have chosen differently.
I didn’t care whether the best school was state or private. State juniors were best, where we were, so that’s where they went. Secondary provision wasn’t as good, so they went private, our youngest will be returning to state for sixth form this year because it offers the particular course he wants to follow and the results and facilities are better.
I’m an anti social old bag, I’ve made very few friends through School, there’s no advantage in that respect far as I’m concerned, our school is so insignificant that no-one will recognise their old school tie anyway. My poor, knackered old husband will be working until he’s 70 like most people to pay off the thumping great mortgage we could have paid off several years ago and as a one time skilled professional I’m scrabbling around for 25 hours that aren’t zero hours or split shift. We did what we thought was right at the time, we paid our money and made our choice. For people who can’t, the question shouldn’t be why can others, it’s not fair, but why isn’t state provision as uniformly good as it ought to be. In the meantime, we weren’t prepared to not do what we thought what was best because some people thought it was the socially responsible thing to do. Blow that, if other people want their kids to be representations of their principals (principles? forgive me, my education was poor 😬) again, their business.
I once worked for a Labour MP (I’m completely apolitical, it was an interesting job): they came to the same conclusion and made the same choice.

Never had a new car either, incidentally.
Have you seen the prices of those things? Now how the hell people afford that IS beyond me.

Even if I had a choice I wouldn't send my children to private school.

Which is entirely your prerogative, no-one else’s.

Absolutely

The real issue hear is that the private sector is very good at accessing state funding, often employing people to apply for state funds full time. In the state sector it's a secondary duty at best. Private schools should be completely privately funded and not take from the state sector at all.

I see what you're saying, OP.

They’re underfunded because we’re running deficit. Just like literally every other state service.

That aside I would agree that for some it isn’t a choice. For us it certainly wasn’t. We knew we could just barely afford private education so state schooling was never an option. We didn’t feel it was right to disadvantage our children or take more resources from a system that is stretched to breaking point. I also have a moral repulsion towards the state sector in Britain. I find the way parents abuse selective schools, catchment areas etc as a middle class filter then go in about how socially conscious/moral they are for choosing to send their children to state schools very unpleasant. At least private school parents get privilege honestly instead of cheating and we don’t pretend that our children aren’t advantaged.

@scifirules I didn’t realise private schools were allowed to take state resources here. Are you sure? I know they provide a lot of facilities etc to state schools in return for charitable status (which positively impacts tax/the effect of legacies) but I didn’t realise they received funding.

avery

Did you not qualify for one of the government schemes.
We don't earn the tuition fees either, but get them paid.
There are people at dd school on benefits, and no income at all.
Was wondering which type of school it was.

Romany - I think it’s a bit different for music but up to age 16 the government funding is only available for classical ballet not drama or other dance forms. Also some of the schools don’t have enough funded places for everyone.

Post 16 there is wider availability.

Aw, I see, sorry.
With audition mentioned I thought music and dance scheme (MDS)

JRM how can you say you are apolitical with the username you have chosen?

The real issue hear is that the private sector is very good at accessing state funding, often employing people to apply for state funds full time.

Scifi please could you tell us more about this.

I don't know how anyone can be so sure that if there were no private schools then the state education would be better. You would need more state schools, big classes, in reality less teacher satisfaction (not everyone does it for the love of it!) and on it goes.....unless we convert to a Finnish style education system I think it would get worse for all.

Dapple

I'm not sure what scifi means, but here is one, the one my dd has.
It covers 8 schools.
www.gov.uk/music-dance-scheme