Private and state schools can help one another
SIR – Before removing charitable status from independent schools and taxing them (report, September 27), Sir Keir Starmer should bear in mind that academy trusts are charities, as are many free schools.
The only difference is that, at private schools, it is the parents who pay for the capital and running costs, while at state-funded schools the Government pays. That in itself is unfair, as most private-school parents have made considerable sacrifices to educate their children there.
What private schools receive in rates and corporation tax relief is much less than the per capita contribution made by the Department for Education to state schools. Meanwhile, many academy trusts are making greater surpluses with their government funding than are many independent schools, prompting questions about what types of school should be taxed.
These squabbles are, of course, part of our national embarrassment about private education and how it can give advantages to children. Actually, in 20 years of education consultancy, I have found that everyone wants all children to have the best possible opportunities. This means matching them with the right school, rather than trying to make every school brilliant at everything. In my experience, those who run independent schools acknowledge that they are better at doing some things, and that another school – private or state – may be better at others. Fees can, of course, be a barrier, and they just want help with making their own school more affordable to those on lower incomes.
There is massive waste and misallocation in Britain’s education system. Taxing independent schools into closure will not only undermine Sir Keir’s plans, but it will also put even more pressure on the state sector. A better solution would be for funding to be used more intelligently – and it could be, if the state and private sectors were seen as a single, integrated system, as they are in countries such as Spain.
Simon Shneerson
Chorleywood, Hertfordshire