Interesting discussion about the role of the private sector in state education (“Shared ambition, not charity, compels us”, Comment, 9 November). I have a simple solution. Why don’t we just get rid of “charitable status” for independents and use the millions we would gain each year to support the state sector? Independent schools that really care about their communities could then make a contribution to David Cameron’s Big Society for free. I appreciate that this might put some of them at risk financially. But Michael Gove has seen to it that they would be OK. They could just apply for free school status and we would pay for them to carry on in the same way.

Mike Rath, Barnstaple.