What is so bad about faith schools?

[Jalexandra]

After reading the 'anti sitting on a fence' thread, I was surprised by how many people had chosen faith schools as a subject they feel strongly about and was just wondering why.
I can't think of any good reason to be against them so maybe you can enlighten me.

This thread is hurting my head now.

Can we talk about Suri Cruise instead?

"i begrudge it because it is causing undue tension in this town. there said it."

seems to cause undue tension all round!

lol northerner.
I see no problem with the socially devisiveness of private schooling, my problem is that faith schools should be the same.
We already have gross inequality in the state school system, why not faith schools? I'm not meaning to be flipant here, but if you want 'better' secular education, then you have to go , in many area's into the independent school sector. IMHO faith schools should be the same, if it's that important then you'll pay for it.
In the same way as moving house, faking addresses etc The point being made here, I believe is that religion has the upper hand because it's all free and on all of our doorsteps, but still out of reach for some. That surely is unfair.

The new Education Bill will require schools to follow the admissions code and not just "have regard to" it - which apparently means that "faith schools could ask for evidence of a commitment to a faith but not use the degree of that - such as attending church weekly rather than fortnightly - as a basis for selecting their pupils." (quote from BBC News\Education)

I like the idea of a decent admissions code, but I worry that it's a Blairite law.
By that I mean it's not enforceable by those who it affects.
Sadly you need to have the ability to sue when you are wronged, else all that will happen is the standard statements by the school or any other bureaucracy, ie
"we do not discuess individual cases".
or
"we have taken heed of the lessons to be learned from this"

Litigation is of course a poor method of sorting this out, and doesn't address the basic issue. that parents want to avoid the crap schools.

But big costs are the only language these people understand. Wish that was not true, but you will see a vastly quicker reaction from your local authority to a financial stimulus than to a school who fails it's kids.

Domini if you're agreeing to be a godparent, you're agreeing to be responsible for helping a child grow in faith

therefore you are a supporter of the church as you are pledging to help a child understand it's own part in religious life

doesn't matter if you haven't been for 20 years; it's actually quite a serious responsibility. I asked one of my most Christian friends to be dd1's godmother and she was very worried that she wouldn't be up to the job

I can see why people think it is unfair to have faith schools. I would not be happy about my children going to our local primary school, but because we are Catholics I haven't had to worry about it. I suppose I would actually have to move house to get a decent school if we weren't Catholic. I don't think faith schools should be abolished, but a fairer system should be developed.

I agreed to a be a godparent, because there's a variety of kids who I've agreed to look after if their parents die. Some are now parents, and the obligation has in effect been inherited. I also do a bit of "moral" stuff, but nothing you'd recognise as any form of superstition.

The priest concerned had spoken of stuff I'd done, and had spoken glowingly of my sporting prowess, and made =reference in the service to how as ayoung boy, I'd covered my self in oil whilst doing sport...
There's possibly a way of not seeing that as homoerotic paedophile lustings, but it's beyond me.
Also it's spectacularly untrue.
I have always been crap at all sports except Judo and Table Tennis, neither of which I did at school. I was actually commended for the fact that I completed all races even though I invariable came last, typically by a long margin. I can't run, and football was something that happened around me, without me actually doing anything useful at all.

Domini if you're agreeing to be a godparent, you're agreeing to be responsible for helping a child grow in faith

therefore you are a supporter of the church as you are pledging to help a child understand it's own part in religious life

doesn't matter if you haven't been for 20 years; it's actually quite a serious responsibility. I asked one of my most Christian friends to be dd1's godmother and she was very worried that she wouldn't be up to the job.
The old pedarast had clearly mistaken me for someone else.