When the government started talking about increasing class sizes, my first question was "I wonder how many Cabinet Ministers send their kids to private schools?". Thanks to the Herald, now we know:
A Herald survey of ministers found that at least seven of the sixteen Cabinet ministers with school-aged children sent all or some of their children to private schools. Four ministers refused to say where their children attended or could not respond, and five ministers said they had enrolled their kids in state schools.And John Key, of course, is one of the former.
Meanwhile, only 4% of children overall attend private schools [XLS], and only 20% or rich kids (decile 10). So Cabinet Ministers are disproportionate even among the wealthy in their preference for socially segregated education.
Which neatly explains why they are happy to wreck the state education system: because its not their kids who will suffer. It also explains why they are so keen to give public money to private schools: because this directly advantages their kids, and lowers the fees they have to pay. So we end up with one education system for politicians, and another for us.
(Meanwhile, its worth noting that while only 4% of kids go to private schools, 25% of Cabinet Ministers did. This is privilege in action, and it needs to be destroyed)
