Letter: State schools are worth our taxes

State schools are worth our taxes

Sir: It is good to know that Helen Clemow and other parents ("If the state school is fine, why pay?", 26 September) are coming to appreciate the benefits of our state education system.

But what is new? And why has the penny taken so long to drop? Twenty years ago our two daughters attended a comprehensive in St Albans and received an education at least as good, socially and academically, as that available in the private sector.

Of course it was not free. A state education system as good as ours requires substantial funding and we should be as willing to pay our taxes as we are enthusiastic about the benefits it brings.

Let us hope that the parents who can afford, but choose not to spend, pounds 40,000 on their child's secondary education will see that a bit more contributed to the public purse is a better use of their money than "ski- ing trips or extra holidays".

DONALD ROBERTSON

Harpenden, Hertfordshire