I think that the removal of grammar schools was short sighted and was destined to drag standards down, but at the same time I don't think grammar/private schools as they were were a good thing for society either as they give its students this sense of superiority and "I'm better than you" for a lifetime and often that then gets past on generation to generation. You even see it now with the "Waitrose mob" looking down on "the poor people".
A far better idea, but would take longer to change public perception, is to get rid of the idea it's a hierarchy with grammar above things like technical colleges. Instead they should be looked at as on the same level, just making the most of an individuals abilities, be they practical or intellectual, and therefore maximising their education and benefit for society.
I'd have much more suited a grammar school, but at the same time I'm quite glad I had a comprehensive education as I feel I'm a far more rounded individual with more experiences of different ways of life and cultures because of it. Had I been in that grammar school bubble I think I'd be a right insufferable little prick (well, even more of one anyway!)