As a mother of 2 toddlers the schools questions and choices (or no choices) make me uneasy to say the least. This is because my education was in a country where there was one system. The state one and that was it. I went to my nearest school (whole 100 yards from my block of flats) until the age of 15. Then we had some choice in which areas we wanted to specialise (this was done on school level), so it was only at that age that one would consider using public transport to get to school. I am sure the system was not perfect in every way, but I got an excellent education. I guess that a big part to good education was:
• one system - promotes meritocracy and inclusiveness
• small class size which was in region of 22-26
• well trained teachers
• faiths were private matters and therefore were not included in schools
So like Roz I would be opposed to creation of any other type of school, and would rather pressure one education body to improve standards for all.