RE: Why should religion have any influence on our lives?
October 3, 2014 at 9:51 am
(This post was last modified: October 3, 2014 at 10:00 am by Michael B.)
Fidel - we do fund our own schools. I'm a higher-rate tax payer: I pay for education. I probably pay in part for your education. So let's not have any of this "use your own wealth". We (I) already do. And where there is taxation I want representation in how that money, my money, is spent.
And as for the "secular values society holds" - as you know, schooling is substantially a choice here in the UK. The types and numbers of school reflect the choices of parents, more now than any recent time in the past. When faith-schools are over-subscribed in an area then the schooling rebalances to reflect that (and vice-versa). The schools we have reflect the values and choices of society. If people didn't want their children to go to faith schools then demand would drop in relation to non-faith schools. We have a good system in the UK. It's not perfect (rebalancing is slow, and a school must have a volume of demand that will sustain it), but it's good - it respects the wishes of parents regarding faith affiliation (or non-affiliation). As it happens, demand for faith schools is increasing overall and the government have asked the Church of England to take on more schools, but if the choice of parents reverses then the system will rebalance again. The funding follows the choices of us parents - schools that fit the demands of local parents well flourish and obtain more funding to accommodate more pupils, while those that don't fit the demands of local parents well have their funding reduced (and will close if they fall below a sustainable level, often to be taken over by a local successful school team).
And as for the "secular values society holds" - as you know, schooling is substantially a choice here in the UK. The types and numbers of school reflect the choices of parents, more now than any recent time in the past. When faith-schools are over-subscribed in an area then the schooling rebalances to reflect that (and vice-versa). The schools we have reflect the values and choices of society. If people didn't want their children to go to faith schools then demand would drop in relation to non-faith schools. We have a good system in the UK. It's not perfect (rebalancing is slow, and a school must have a volume of demand that will sustain it), but it's good - it respects the wishes of parents regarding faith affiliation (or non-affiliation). As it happens, demand for faith schools is increasing overall and the government have asked the Church of England to take on more schools, but if the choice of parents reverses then the system will rebalance again. The funding follows the choices of us parents - schools that fit the demands of local parents well flourish and obtain more funding to accommodate more pupils, while those that don't fit the demands of local parents well have their funding reduced (and will close if they fall below a sustainable level, often to be taken over by a local successful school team).
