[faith schools] minette marrin misses the point

Minette Marrin, whom I greatly respect, is not right here: Even those who would much prefer a secular system, as I would, still feel they owe a lot to the great ethical and aesthetic traditions of faith schools. And there’s some evidence that religious state schools are better than others, both academically and pastorally. But faith schools are a British anomaly. It should be possible to agree that for various reasons, many of which are politically embarrassing, the time of state-funded faith schools is past. Why? The state-sanctioned religion is Christianity and in particular the C of E. Any religions outside of this with attendant schools, of whatever hue, are faith schools. The C of E schools are the state and therefore, of course, they must remain.