Would you go into debt for your childs secondary education?

[Bathsheba]

But how exactly do you "shop around" for a public education??? You get what you are given in your suburb unless you are in the top percentage of academically gifted children and then you might be lucky to be able to attend a selective school which from what I have observed here in Melbourne are run in a very similar manner to private/independant schools. If you want your child to go to a school that reflects the "real world" then you wouldn't send them to a selective school... because in the real world not everyone is as intelligent as all your classmates. Your other option is to move out of your suburb. I just don't understand why children should be forced to go to the local school if it's just not up to scratch.

Nic: getting back onto your question: we don't have the cash for school fees in our bank accounts. Each term we pay the bill using a credit card. Over the course of the term we pay it off and like I said it's usually paid off in full before we get the next bill. So does this count as going into debt? You can pay the whole year's school fees upfront... but most people pay as you go... so to answer your question: if we couldn't keep up with the fee payments then we would move to an area with the public highschool with the best reputation. We would never just send our children to the local one regardless of it's reputation just to adhere to a principle. Just as I would never go to a local hospital if it had a bad reputation for the particular service I needed. And just like I don't eat only food that is grown locally (I pay extra in both money and cost to the environment to have the product I want) and like most people drive their private car when with a little extra effort they could catch public transport.

I think that in life you aim to follow your principles but at the end of the day you have to be realistic... you can't be expected to lead a perfectly idealistic life. I know that many people will think that morally I have sold out by sending my children to private schools and I would dread the thought of the public system collapsing with a mass migration to the private system. When I vote my preference goes to Labor, not Liberal who would gladly love to see the public system fold But I do see the bigger picture and I have priorities like my faith and a need for my children to receive pastoral care amongst other cultural aspects of education and when the public schools meet these needs I will gladly use the system. Until then I am happy to pay the school fees. If that money wasn't going toward a school then it would go on "stuff" and I really can't see why people begrudge me for giving my money to an instituion that serves many rather than using it to feather our nest? What's the big deal?