The Guardian has an excellent article about faith schools and how barmy it all is. Perhaps the government thinks that families of Jews or Muslims traipsing off to the C-of-E once a week is a superb method for helping integrate communities or whatever it is they now think is their responsibility. 
The paragraphs where an American lady dubbed Sally Sellick is interviewed are pretty much as cogent an analysis as you can get: "I know of other non-believers who dress it up as wanting the children to have a moral education, or they say it's nice being part of the community. So I thought we'd try it. But I couldn't take it. I think you have to be really cynical to do it if you don't believe. My husband found it easier than I did, I think - he's from a former communist country and is used to having to do stuff he doesn't believe in. But I found it so uncomfortable, saying these prayers I knew I didn't believe in. I couldn't take my son up for the blessing. It was farcical."
The state is sponsoring "choice advisers", costing nine million pounds a year, to help parents with their difficult decision between - what to some - is a rock and a hard place. If I were to have a child (Cthulhu forbid), there is almost no choice at all in my area. The vast majority of the schools in my area are run by the Church of England. There are a handful of Catholic schools on top of that. What's left? Well, there's about two 'community schools' (the C-word!) nearby - compared to about 12 C-of-E schools. A few of the schools which do not express a religious affiliation in their name - which would seem to be community schools - do in fact have daily worship and all that rubbish.
The continued existence of faith schools and the lack of any effort on the part of any political party to do anything about are the best adverts for emigrating and/or getting a vasectomy. That and a big old revival in secular home-schooling.
