Education, education, uh ... and lying

A major item in the news today has been about parents who lie to get their children into popular schools. The essence of the news is whether it's "right" to do so.

It seems to me we are missing the point. Twelve years ago, Tony Blair said his three main priorities for government were "education, education, education".

The real reason parents lie to get their children into schools is that, after twelve years of Labour rule, they realise that some schools do a much better job of educating their children. Labour has spent huge sums on education and delivered some improvements but too many schools fall short and parents aren't prepared to wait: their childrens' education is too precious.

The debate shouldn't be about how to punish parents who lie, but how to fix the problem: too many schools just don't measure up.