Why is it fair for people with money to get a better education than me?
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Original post by hsv
There are grammar schools (which are free) you can go to which are allegedly better than compressive schools, though you have to be selected to go to one via doing the 11 plus.
I live in a city with a population of over 600,000 yet the nearest grammar school is 40 miles away
Original post by MrSupernova
I live in a city with a population of over 600,000 yet the nearest grammar school is 40 miles away
I know some Local Education areas near me like Solihull don't have grammar schools but then the plethora of King Edwards Grammar Schools and others are nearby in Birmingham and some in Warwickshire. Though it is unfortunate if they are none nearby if that is the option someone would have wanted.
Lets assume it is unfair the question then becomes "how should it be made fair?"
There are two options:
1) Close private schools and force every single child into a system you agree is worse (otherwise it wouldn't currently be unfair).
2) Work to improve state schools and bring as many people as possible into a better system and leave the system you seem to thinks is better alone.
However if you do believe its fair there is no need to even look at changing private schools.
From this it is clear to me whether it is fair or not closing private schools is an option that makes no logical sense.
So then you have to ask does it even matter if it is fair or not?
If it is fair you will work to improve schools as making schools as good a possible makes sense.
If it isn't fair you will work to improve schools as making schools as good a possible makes sense.
So it seems it doesn't even matter if it is fair or not.
There are two options:
1) Close private schools and force every single child into a system you agree is worse (otherwise it wouldn't currently be unfair).
2) Work to improve state schools and bring as many people as possible into a better system and leave the system you seem to thinks is better alone.
However if you do believe its fair there is no need to even look at changing private schools.
From this it is clear to me whether it is fair or not closing private schools is an option that makes no logical sense.
So then you have to ask does it even matter if it is fair or not?
If it is fair you will work to improve schools as making schools as good a possible makes sense.
If it isn't fair you will work to improve schools as making schools as good a possible makes sense.
So it seems it doesn't even matter if it is fair or not.
(edited 10 years ago)
I think the issue isn't so much about paying for education as a free market.
Where an advantage for ones offspring can be attained many people will be prepared to pay for it. This can be in terms of schooling, with private education, supplementary tutoring or pure private tutoring, CV building with facilitating unpaid internships, DoE, hobbies, skills acquisition e.g. driving tuition, or simply provision of a supportive and stable environment in which to study.
I think to say that it is desirable to legislate away the influence of the free market on the way people raise their children is a fundamental rejection of the basis of our society, and hence I disagree in the strongest terms with those who advocate such ends.
Where an advantage for ones offspring can be attained many people will be prepared to pay for it. This can be in terms of schooling, with private education, supplementary tutoring or pure private tutoring, CV building with facilitating unpaid internships, DoE, hobbies, skills acquisition e.g. driving tuition, or simply provision of a supportive and stable environment in which to study.
I think to say that it is desirable to legislate away the influence of the free market on the way people raise their children is a fundamental rejection of the basis of our society, and hence I disagree in the strongest terms with those who advocate such ends.
I'm state educated myself, but parents have a right to use their affluence to provide their children a better education.
Because...........
I am not a person with money. I have not had everything set up for me. However I have had to work hard and it has paid off. 10A*2A at GCSE and A*AAa at A level starting Medicine this month. It isn't fair that parents money does buy a better education despite the childs ability and future earning capacity but it is the case. So I need to make the most of the opportunities available especially if there are few of them. It sucks a bit but I have worked hard and hope to be in a position where I can chose where to send my children and not have these decisions made by a financial situation. It has however taught me skills which I would not have gained otherwise.
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Original post by jadpan
I am not a person with money. I have not had everything set up for me. However I have had to work hard and it has paid off. 10A*2A at GCSE and A*AAa at A level starting Medicine this month. It isn't fair that parents money does buy a better education despite the childs ability and future earning capacity but it is the case. So I need to make the most of the opportunities available especially if there are few of them. It sucks a bit but I have worked hard and hope to be in a position where I can chose where to send my children and not have these decisions made by a financial situation. It has however taught me skills which I would not have gained otherwise.
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I guess you'll be far better prepared for med school than those who've been spoon-fed though, which is a big positive?
Original post by jadpan
I am not a person with money. I have not had everything set up for me. However I have had to work hard and it has paid off. 10A*2A at GCSE and A*AAa at A level starting Medicine this month. It isn't fair that parents money does buy a better education despite the childs ability and future earning capacity but it is the case. So I need to make the most of the opportunities available especially if there are few of them. It sucks a bit but I have worked hard and hope to be in a position where I can chose where to send my children and not have these decisions made by a financial situation. It has however taught me skills which I would not have gained otherwise.
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Suppose you become a wealthy doctor. Would you not want to give your children a headstart?
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Original post by Midlander
Suppose you become a wealthy doctor. Would you not want to give your children a headstart?
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I would want exactly that you are right and that's part of the reason to work hard. It's not the opportunities you are provided with it's what you make of them. As it happens I have been offered a scholarship on four occassions for a really good private school but it shows that the system does allow you to perform well so long as you put the effort in. Actually I would like to correct myself and say I'd like the oportunity to choose a direction for my childrens education and not have my hand forced by a financial situation. Feel free to comment.
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Original post by jadpan
I would want exactly that you are right and that's part of the reason to work hard. It's not the opportunities you are provided with it's what you make of them. As it happens I have been offered a scholarship on four occassions for a really good private school but it shows that the system does allow you to perform well so long as you put the effort in. Actually I would like to correct myself and say I'd like the oportunity to choose a direction for my childrens education and not have my hand forced by a financial situation. Feel free to comment.
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I would agree with that-if someone has worked hard to create a successful life for themselves, why shouldn't they be entitled to pass this onto their children? My education has been used as a stick against me both at university and in the workplace by people who assume that everyone who goes to a private school goes to somewhere like Eton and has things handed to them on a plate.
That is just as narrow minded as people from well-off backgrounds looking down on the less privileged. It goes both ways.
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