Child Benefit:: donate to local school

[grannieonabike]

Rather than freeze Child Benefit, those who don't need it could always donate it to a local school.

Presumably the people that don't need their CB will be on the whole living in the more affluent areas with the schools that already benefit from wealthier than average parents? Won't this just increase the division between schools?

It could do. Maybe then it could go into a central pot to be divided up among schools in the local area?

I also like the idea of having some say over where our taxes go, as they do in other countries. Three or four broad categories, perhaps, so it's not totally unmanageable.

No that's an awful idea.

How do you decide who needs it and who doesn't

huddspur - let people decide for themselves.
Coalition - why is it an awful idea? you wouldn't have to donate it if you didn't want to. Obviously.

Also if schools need charity to get by there is something very wrong somewhere. Maybe we could apply for aid from third world countries. They could send old textbooks and mended desks etc.

People can already donate money to their school if they feel like it. The terrible idea is that people should dictate which things the tiny proportion of tax they pay is spent on. It perpetuates the myth that particular taxes pay for particular things and would cost a lot of money to let a few people feel, well I don't know what, smug, superior?

You vote for a government - they decide based on their manifesto what they need to spend money on. They then get that money from the population in tax in the most efficient way possible.

they can donate it to who the hell they want!

Aye - I'm very liberal about who people give their own money too. I even tolerate the kind of fucking idiot who gives money to animal charities.

Coalition - I didn't vote for this government. Governments often don't do what they say on their manifestos.

In some countries they make it optional whether you want a proportion of your taxes to go to the church or not. I'm not suggesting that here. I'd just like to be able to tick a box on my tax form to say yes I want my taxes to go to the NHS, no I don't want you to spend them on Defence. That would be a step towards true democracy.

onagar - agree that schools shouldn't rely on charity. But school fetes raise funds, so donating CB money would be an extension of that. Or the CB money could go to schools abroad. The point is that it would be really complicated to change the whole CB system because the government wants to save money, and it would be easier if people just donated it to whoever they want, really.

SG mom - 'create' a class divide? The money could be donated to the schools that need it most. 'Poor people depend on Child benefit'. Yes, that's why it shouldn't be frozen or cut. But there are some people who don't need it. Why not set up a system by which they can donate it to a fund to be distributed to schools in any area?

hahaha more likely to donate it to the local prep school

SGMom - yes, I do because it's better for all of us if everyone gets a good education -fewer people needing benefits when they get older etc.

grannieonabike - Democracy doesn't mean getting your own way. It means abiding by the will of the majority. Your suggestion is a nonsense anyway. Either governments decide where to spend the money, or every single person decides what proportion of their tax goes to what department and if that fucks us up then tough. It's just an attempt to have another go at rerunning an election.

You proposal would reduce democracy as it would undermine the ability of a democratically elected government to do the job they were elected to do.

I'm with Stewie here - I don't see what it would achieve. Those who can/want contribute already.

Actual, there is a danger that it might become 'expected'. I can imagine letters being sent home asking for a regular payments to the school.

I put the Child Benifit in my Childrens trust funds, it is for them after all and will give them funds when they are older to learn to drive or a deposit on a flat/house, money to go to university ect.

Don't agree with you, Coalition. The only democracy any of us really has is how we spend our money. I'm not suggesting 'every single person decides what proportion of their tax goes to what department' - just three or four broad categories. Wouldn't you like to know that your taxes are going to something you consider to be worthwhile? I hated having to pay for all those bankers.

I think it would be an interesting experiment for the government to find out how we would like them to spend our money. A real test of our democracy.

onager - yes, it is very wrong when schools have to rely on fundraising to get by, but it's already happening, sadly. I'm a school governor. Our contingency fund this year is £4k. And we've had a wall fall down, so it's all gone.

We are having to ask the PTA to provide essentials, such as replacing old chairs that are now dangerous (plastic has degraded and stops have come off the feet leaving bare metal - if a child swings on the chair and a leg lands on their foot it could do real damage).

Some parents do get irritated because they think PTA money should be spent on extras, but unfortunately government funding doesn't cover the essentials. Apparently this is partly because we have a lot of experienced, senior teachers who have been at the school for years and so have progressed and are now high up the pay grades. We could make sure we replace them with newly qualified teachers when they move on or retire, but what would that do to the quality of teaching? You can't run a school on NQTs, they need some experienced staff around.

Edam - do you think some people would be happy to donate their CB to a school (or central fund for all schools in the area)? Do you think, as Lost Art says, that the schools might start to ask for it or expect it?

We donate our child benefit to charity and have done for years, to a homestart scheme. I think it has a more immediate impact that a school, but I guess the idea is the same.