This week I find a plethora of issues in the newspapers clamouring for attention. Should I focus on the London conference on the education of black children, at which Ken Livingstone blamed the rise in street violence and gun crime on the education system’s failure to address the needs of black pupils? Or on John Dunford, of the Secondary Heads Association, comparing our creaking and overloaded exam system to Railtrack?

Or on the 85,000 qualified teachers who have never taught because they do not see the profession as being well-paid or attractive enough? And what about the London teachers’ strike and the threat by heads to take industrial action of their own?

Maybe I should draw attention to last week’s Politeia pamphlet in which I argued - against Chris Woodhead - that British children are expected to start formal learning too early, and that this can delay their progress. Instead, we should construct a properly-funded, two-year, full-time nursery programme for all four-year-olds, which would genuinely prepare them for primary schooling at the age of six.

But on reflection all these stories revolve round the same issue. After 15 years of continuous reform we are still trying to raise standards of academic achievement among children who could do better, and to achieve higher pay, status and morale among teachers.

The only way forward, surely, is to focus much more single-mindedly on what we really want. The countries with high-achieving education systems tend to have relatively homogeneous populations and a culture which values education. With our huge gulf between rich and poor, we don’t have the former. But we can certainly develop the latter - which means not being satisfied with second best.

Unfortunately, the very existence of successful and prestigious independent schools means that state schools will often be seen as just that. All the more reason, then, to insist that the 92 per cent of children whose parents can’t afford massive school fees also deserve the best. The Government should be brave enough to raise income tax and match the pay of private-sector teachers.

The results of the conference on black pupils’ underachievement suggest further ways forward. Funding should be redistributed to poorer areas. Children who are struggling should have more, not less, money spent on them and be taught in smaller classes. And at the same time, parents, teachers and local communities must get together to solve their own problems and stop passively expecting solutions to arrive from above.

We could all learn from the private sector, where parents simply insist on quality. They set high standards for their children, helping them with homework and sending them to school on time and with the right kit. They get actively involved in school activities and money-raising events.

A better partnership between teachers and parents in all types of school would help breed the mutual respect for which teachers yearn.

And in spite of what I said about not depending on a magic wand from above, an essential part of the jigsaw is that Tony Blair should make up his mind as to whether he wants to carry on his ideological battle with the teachers, or whether he truly wants a Rolls-Royce system of public education.