petal

I agree with you about the facile claims of private school parents who tell anyone who'll listen that they work themselves to the bone and sacrifice everything to get their kids the 'very best' education. It's trite, smug and self-serving. Not to mention betraying a shallow consumerist approach to education - something that money can't buy.

However, I disagree with you that public schools are not 'decent'. Despite being constantly run down (double meaning intended) by politicians for ideological purposes - and to cut their public education budgets - it is not hard to find excellent public schools at both primary and secondary levels.

I have been a member of several public school councils and my partner and I have been active parents, and we have been highly impressed by the dedicated, hard-working and sensitive teachers we have worked with. I'm sure there are some duds just as there are in the buy-an-education schools; but the overwhelming experience is that they are a great bunch of teachers.

It's a disgrace that they are not better paid - sometimes praise will only go so far.

I agree with you that there are many children whose parents can't even contemplate enrolling their kids in private schools - and we should not condemn the families, parents or children, for circumstances beyond their control.

Privileged parents would be more respected if they did what some of the privileged principals did at the recent launch of Howard's latest gift to the wealthy - acknowledge that the Coalition education policies are unfair to ordinary Australian parents and their children in public schools.

Hi FrankGol. I should have probably made my point clearer - often, the public schools in the most marginalised areas are the most run down, and the only choice for those kids who don't actually have a choice. Cruelly, the independent schools in these areas qualify for more money under the SES model; money that should really be redirected towards the local public schools.

In Victoria, there are a number of private schools in outer areas that have just sprung up over the past few years. Where is the new infrastructure for the public schools in these areas?

Another cruel fact is that public schools here are largely self-governed, which means that parents are doing all they can to get their child into the "good" local school and not have to send them to the "bad" local school. Our child was forced to enrol in a dreadful school which was 100 metres closer to us than the other one, which is much, much better. Coincidentally, that school managed to fill all 40 prep places before they got to us, in spite of our living less than 2km away. So is it really the case that there are 40 5 year olds living within less than 2km from that school? Or are some parents not being totally honest about their addresses?

Petal,

You are absolutely correct-parents in Melb and Sydney will falsify their address, use a friends address or move into a rented place for 6-12 months to get into a desirable school particularly at secondary level. This can leave a neighboring school with a shrinking population and a majority of kids with high social and educational needs. It is obvious that a govt school must be successful at attracting middle class families if it is to grow and prosper. I believe there are many parents who are choosing private schools begrudginly because they can not get their kids into "good" or desirable govt high schools. Uni High is an example in Melb with families moving from Epping and Donvale(30-40 km) to get their kids in. The move back to govt schools is becoming more obviuos in areas in Melb where there is high demograhic change like inner city Melb. -the middle class insisting on sending their kids to govt schools changes the school itself, guess what ,marks improve and in a few years govt school ABC is seen as desirable.