This week the Victorian Education Department announced changes to schools’ eligibility for portable classrooms. The department will now say "no" to extra portables for schools having more than 50 per cent of enrolments outside their zone.

Consider that for a few seconds – 50 per cent.

More than 200 public schools will be forced to turn away families living outside their local area in a crackdown to address overcrowding

Despite some outrage, this is more than reasonable; over half the student population coming from outside the local area is huge. While there can never be a perfect "one size fits all" model for Victoria because schools’ needs are varied, the premise behind this particular decision is a good one.

Some parents demand completely free choice but I want to know how they go about choosing. Data is one (malleable) element of a school’s performance and the My School website is not a comprehensive score card on which judgments should be made. Gossip and opinions should be treated carefully, as should the consideration of the cohort of kids in a school.

Teachers can only work with what they are given: Fairhills High School principal Harvey Wood with students. Justin McManus

Teachers can only work with what they are given, so if you value education and choose to support your local school, chances are your children will do well because you are expecting them to. The flow-on effects of widespread local patronage would be incredibly positive for everyone.

Allowing free parental choice for schools perpetuates a tiered system of education with the "haves" and the "have nots" clearly segregated. Students are high value commodities – each one in years 7-12 comes with an almost $8700 price tag.

For "desirable" schools, attracting more students means their bank balance grows and gives them the ability to offer wider curriculum choice and impressive resources. These schools can also employ more expensive, experienced teachers, which is often a selling point for parents, and so the growth cycle continues. This remains almost unchecked if they are able to access new portables to house numbers.

Choosing not to send your child to the local school for fear of them "missing out" means that school in turn loses funding it would otherwise have had, which would help it employ a breadth of teachers and provide a wider curriculum. It would have a chance at matching its neighbours and reaching its potential.

In Finland, the bastion of Amazing Education, all students attend their local school. The government and wider society take pride in all schools being equal and fairly funded (hello, Gonski?)

If we followed suit in Victoria, students would benefit from a more realistic spread of abilities and backgrounds – one that reflects the real world. We wouldn’t have a mass exodus of "academic" students from less desirable schools, meaning we could encourage a climate of success among students in all schools.

Parents could focus their energies and fundraising efforts locally, commute times would shrink drastically, students would be time rich and there would be far less distinction between schools. Suburbs wouldn’t have ridiculously priced houses simply because parents are chasing an educational golden egg they worry only exists in certain places. The fact is, students will do well if education is valued in the home, not because of the school you went to.

Parents unnecessarily agonise over school decisions as if making the wrong choice is going to damage their child permanently. I implore them to stop worrying and to shop local.

Really, the only parent choice should come down to public versus private. And this is my main concern with the department’s announcement – that aspirational parents, who have the view that their local school doesn’t fit the bill, will turn instead to the private system. That would be a real shame for equitable education.

Our town has only one school, all the way from prep to year 12, and it’s like a big family. Kids can walk or ride to school, car commute times are tiny, parents band together to fundraise for resources and the local community are heavily involved through volunteering and even apprenticeships.

Teachers get the privilege of helping students grow from tiny preps to adults – many stay in touch. We work collectively to make our school "good" because it’s in our best interests. Our results are what you would expect for the different students we have, academic kids who have interested families do very well, the rest slot in somewhere on the scale behind them.

And you know what? They all turn out just fine.

Nicola Philp is a teacher and Age columnist.