Last weekend, at their annual meeting, the trustees voted to ask the Gordon Campbell government to take the relatively modest subsidies Victoria gives private schools (the maximum funding is 50 per cent) to the public schools they themselves oversee.

But I think they're just cutting off their nose to spite their face. The fact is, parents who send their kids to these independent schools (most of which are religion-based) already pay twice.

They fork over their full load of public school taxes, then pay extra for the private school of their choice. So jacking up their education costs is not only cruel and unnecessary punishment, it'll simply force many of them to put their children back into the public school system, driving up its cost accordingly.

Besides, having a parallel private school system provides the public one with some much-needed competition. My own son spent most of his school life in public school. But the two years he spent in private school were a real waker-upper. The class discipline was better, the parents more engaged and the teachers worked harder to ensure each student's talents were developed. Also, there wasn't all that left-wing brainwashing.

Further, independent schools don't seem to be so infatuated with the bigger-is-better philosophy prevalent in the public system. Both school and class sizes tend to be smaller and less impersonal.

No wonder private-school enrolment has been rising steadily, and now stands at almost 11 per cent of the total.

via www.theprovince.com