Academies and free schools – WTF?

I’ve never really liked the idea of separating children by religion for education purposes – even when for years most religious schools were of the wishy-washy C of E variety. C of E schools are a non-threatening manifestation of the established church (disestablishment is another issue I might address some time).

And now we have free schools, some of which seem to cater mostly to muslim children – depriving them and non-muslim children of mixing with each other. What a shame. Don’t we want children to grow up having friends from all backgrounds if we want a cohesive society?

I don’t like academies either. They’re a manifestation of the Conservatives’ ideology – another way to bash local government.

£3bn is to be cut from the schools’ budget if the Conservatives get in. Yet they have thrown money at academies and free schools. Why don’t they just fairly fund all schools via local authorities? Politicians say they believe in devolution. Their undermining of local councils proves that’s rubbish.