How did the situation get so bad?
Maybe we only have ourselves to blame. By stressing over school "choice" as parents and actively moving our children away from local schools rather than supporting them, we become part of the problem, not part of the solution.
Looks at all the ways "out" there are:
Independent
Faith/church school
Grammar (if you have one)
Moving for decent catchment
Only after all that are we left with "the state school you are given", which is the final option for people who have no other, or to whom no other option would occur.
It winds me up no end when people talk about "the best". You know: "oh, yes, we are sending Tarquin and Jonty to St X's because, you know, we want the best for our children." First of all there's the underlying assumption that Tarquin and Jonty are, for some reason, entitled to something better than Shane and Ryan. Maybe they expect people to respond, "Oh, yes, we've always been happy with the mediocre for our children, which is why we're sending them to Kitchen Sink Comp."
Then there's the "she's so bright" syndrome. "Oh, yes, well, Tilly is so bright, that's why we have to send her to Lady Snodgrass High." Again, the temptation is to say, "Oh, well, DD is exceptionally stupid, which is why we're sending her to Bash Street."
When I speak to my mother about school "choice" issues, she comes out with - almost word-for-word every time - "well, I don't know, when we moved to X, your dad and i just went to see the head of the local school and it was no problem and..." You can guess the rest. I bet some of your mothers say the same.
Of course, the additional complication is that with other public services there are pretty much absolute criteria of "good" - clean hospital that gets you well again, clean regular bus that arrives on time, etc. With schools, it's a bit more subjective.
Sorry if this all sounds like a disjointed rant. Something about this time of year...