The Government appears to have finally discovered three years after I wrote about it in my book and about a decade after it became common knowledge; that believe it or not, some parents are actually prepared to tell lies in order to get their child into a decent school rather than just give in and send their child to an awful one. I'd love to know how much Dr Craig was paid to tell them something that many teachers and parents could have done for the cost of a second class stamp. Even better, he doesn't think that it should be made a crime, instead he wants to encourage councils to take parents to the civil courts. (Great advice when the only council that has attempted this had their case thrown out!)
My advice for what it's worth, remains to do whatever it takes to get your child into a good school.
It's simply a form of Darwinian evolution- parents who give a damn about their children take the trouble to do the research in order to find out how to fool the school if necessary. Those that don't, er... don't.
6 comments:
Of course the government could look at why there is such disparity in schools that people will go to such lengths to get their choice, and then do something to bring all of them up to scratch. They've had long enough, and wasted enough money, after all.
But blaming the parents is easier.
I'm lucky, my child is in a good school. But had she been refused a place, I'd have been quite prepared to lie, cheat, duck and dive to get her in.
Why should we be honest towards the government.....are they honest to us? Just rememb the expenses scandal, and TB's going on about "education, education , education", 12 years on, education is worse than ever. The level of illiterate children is higher than ever. I wouldn't want my chid to be one of those so I'd do whatever it takes. And many others do, too, because, unlike the educational system, they actually CARE about their childrens' education.
I sympathise with parents who live in a catchment area filled with rubbish comprehensive schools. If their child does not manage to get into a grammar school then their life chances and choices are automatically limited due to the socio-education problems that exist in comp schools up and down the country. I understand why parents go to extreme lengths to get their kids into the best schools.
"encourage councils to take parents to the civil courts" instead of councils... oooh I don't know... spending that time and money helping schools improve standards.
So some parents 'flip' their catchment area to get a child into a school.
So some MP's , Balls and his wife 'flip' homes to gain a monetary advantage.
Have I missed something or is Balls a hypocrite?
Flipping to get into a catchment area is legal. Lying about your address apparently isn't.
But aren't we missing the big picture here. Aren't they advocating prosecuting parents for caring for their kids? There's a texan saying about some people who "need killin"...
Slowjoe
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