You may like to explain the ‘voucher system’. I don’t think there’s been any discussion on anything like that in Western Australia. I’d be interested in knowing more.

I think you misunderstood what I was saying about Christian education today. In the main post I said that we have our children in a Christian school and in my response to Alex I said, “Thankfully there are many schools that are doing much better at introducing kids to the wonder of who God is and I also know that the school in question has dramatically changed.”

My very point was, as you say, that a lot can change in a couple of decades and the fact that our children are being educated in a Christian school would suggest that I have indeed taken the effort to check out current day Christian education.

Most Christian schools are very different today Rodney, & I would strongly suggest you take the effort to go & have a look. A lot can change in a two decades.

Due to their far more open enrollment policies, Christian schools are a wonderful way to encourage non-Christian students & their parents, while giving them a new hope for eternity.

It all boils down to the curriculum & the commitment to Christ by the teachers & the Principal. And that can vary quite considerably even within a single Christian Education system.

I will have to admit that from what I’d seen of ‘Christian education’ a couple of decades ago (from one particular school) I was convinced that if I ever had kids, they would not go to a Christian school. I had never encountered such a force for turning young people away from Jesus Christ.

Thankfully there are many schools that are doing much better at introducing kids to the wonder of who God is and I also know that the school in question has dramatically changed.

I affirm Christian schooling, but we’re sending our kids through government system for a number of reasons.

1. Cost. I guess it’s partly a choice thing, but it’s a real issue for us. Maybe we’d think differently if our costs were different.

2. Opportunity. This feeds into the cost thing, but the government system means our kids have more opportunity to engage in things like music as well as extra-curricula activities because our budget isn’t constrained.

3. Quality. Educationally, we’re very satisfied with what we’ve seen and heard about the local government schools and I’m not sure what advantage, educationally, there would be for sending our kids to local Christian schools (although there may be some, but I haven’t heard a strong case for that). I have to say, in another suburb that would no doubt be different.

The main disadvantage is the whole values thing, of course, but we’re willing to just deal with that one. Some Christian kids thrive in the government system and some Christian kids crash after coming out of the Christian ed system (and vice versa of course!). We know kids who have gone through local Christian schools without Christian peers, so I’m not convinced we’re worse off on that front.

But like I say, others will feel very strongly the other way and I completely understand that.