Letter: Schools for the rich
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Eric Hammond contends that abolition of the grammar schools would "lead people with means to put their children into independent schools instead of grammar schools. It would be choice by the purse rather than by ability" ("Third of grammars under threat", 1 September).
Here in Buckinghamshire we already have choice by the purse. Many parents with means put their children into the county's thriving independent preparatory schools with the simple objective of ensuring that they pass the 11-plus and gain a grammar school place.
They do this because independent schools in the county can train their pupils as much as they wish in the verbal reasoning techniques required to pass. State schools in the county (such as the one my 10-year-old daughter attends) may not.
Not surprisingly, independent school pass rates exceed state school pass rates by a wide margin because bright children from poorer backgrounds - whom the system is supposed to pick out - have to compete not with brighter, but with infinitely more carefully trained children, whose parents pay to beat the system.
JOHN FLETCHER
Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments