I think parents should have the choice over their children's education. But people on Benefits or rather badly off don't have any choice at all do they?
I got a place at a State Grammar School (I was only ten) and my parents were not at all well-off. My mother went out to work full-time to pay for uniform, sports equipment, school trips etc, and did the same for my younger sister. They made sacrifices. There was a new Comprehensive school in the district, but as our goal was University, it was thought the Grammar School offered a better selection of subjects.
It was suggested by my JUnior School that I sit the Scholarship exam for Benenden (a private girls' boarding school) but my parents felt that as we were working class, I'd have felt out of place there. (Probably very true!)
I don't feel that my State Education lacked anything. I was successful academically and so was my sister. I became a teacher and she became a doctor.