Is it right for local authourities to make criminals out of desperate parents?

Should parents who cheat the system to get their kids into better schools be made an example of?


Mr Ed Balls and co' are planning to ensure that well meaning, hard working, concerned parents are wacked with a stick yet again. I beleive rather than making an example of these concerened and probably very good parents, he should concentrate his efforts on improving the schools they seek to avoid.


What do you think?Is it right for local authourities to make criminals out of desperate parents?
The real issue is that any educational system which allows the quality of a child's education to be determined by the contents of their parents' bank accounts is deeply unfair and highly harmful to social mobility. The same life chances should be available to everyone purely based on merit and natural ability.





Bleating about ';cheating the system'; is missing the point. Don't blame parents for trying to keep their children out of crap schools, the crime is that the crap schools exist in the first place.Is it right for local authourities to make criminals out of desperate parents?
You ask


';Should parents who cheat the system to get their kids into better schools be made an example of?';





Yes. Why? Because only those parents that can afford to move into another catchment area can give their child this advantage.





I agree that the answer is to improve ALL educational standards, but using your financial clout to improve your child's chances is WRONG.
What sort of example to set your children by showing them that cheating is OK. How far is that from stealing, assault, murder.





My concern is that the child suffers due to the parents dishonesty by possibly being removed from the school that they have got used to, also think of the bullying they could get at a new school if it got out.





Punish the parents not the child
If you cheat and /or lie you should expect to be punished. I agree that poor or failing schools should be improved, but that is another issue.
If they tell lies about this what else are they lying about. Doesn't set a very good example to their children - tell lies to get your own way, I don't think so.
Crime re-generates cash for this country. The govt get loads of funding from the EU through their ';urban regeneration'; grants that are deliberately mis spent.
Cheats are cheats.