As a councillor and school teacher, I am proud of the educational opportunities in the borough. High-quality free education is transformational in young people’s lives and as a Labour councillor, it is one of my missions to ensure the borough fosters a successful educational landscape.
The recent school performance data from last academic year, published last week, put Wokingham as the top local authority for GCSE progress in the South East, and second out of all local authorities in the country outside London. This is a huge achievement for the secondary schools in the area and as councillors we should celebrate this success.
In light of these achievements, I have been dismayed by the local Conservatives’ disdain for state education and for those families who rely on it. Their campaign to keep open tax loopholes for private schools has resulted in countless misinformed arguments and an incredibly dismissive attitude to those benefitting from a state education.
The Conservative debate around Labour’s policy to close VAT loopholes, that it is a ‘tax on aspiration’ and, in his article on 12th November, Cllr Younis’ claim that it penalises those who are striving to provide for their children, all supports this narrative that only wealthy or middle class people can have aspirations for their children.
Cllr Younis’ claim that closing the loophole will necessitate an increase of fees by 20% is incorrect. Schools have absolutely no obligation to pass this on to parents. Through austerity years, the Conservatives cut real terms spending on state schools while private school fees saw a real terms increase of 24%. Any aspirational parent would want to redress that balance.
At the heart of this whole debate is the misjudged assumption that a private education must be better than a state one. Local Conservatives have continued to push the claim that there will be a mass exodus from private schools in the new year caused by the closing of the VAT loophole, of which there is currently no evidence. And even if there is movement, it is dangerous to assume the cause. The borough has some of the best comprehensive schools in the country, some of which outperform local private schools. The Conservatives should be proud of the achievement of our local state schools and welcome the fact that great schools enable parents from all income backgrounds to be aspirational.
Education should be universal, like our NHS, so it is right that the government adopts policies which will champion free education for everyone and that is what this Labour government is getting on with. There are still improvements that need to be made with schools in our borough, but only a Labour government can provide change that reverses the damaging years of Tory austerity and gives every child a chance to quality, free education.
By Councillor Andrew Gray
