do the council give money to Catholic schools? Post Reply

[WishIWasthePope]

Please can someone settle an argument I'm having with a good friend.

I am not a Catholic and so my children cannot go to St Anslems or the Holy Ghost school.

However my friend tells me that these schools will get money from the council to pay for the schools. Is that right? I thought these schools were religious and so independent of the council and thats why they could keep non-believers like me (or my children) out.

Is that right? It doesn't seem fair that my council tax is going on a resource I would like to have but can't

IWIWTP

[alexh]

This post really caught my eye and although I can't claim to know much about the workings of Wandsworth Council I would like to point out the following:
1) there are a number of faith schools in the borough (CofE, Muslim and Catholic) that are just that - FAITH schools who have a clear admissions policy i.e. principally churchgoing children then usually a small number of places reserved for other criteria (special care, distance etc).
2)Council Tax is not only used to fund schools but is also what keeps the streets clean, lit etc. Using your argument would mean that the percentage of the workforce who don't have children would be feeling mighty peeved.
3) The parents of the children who attend faith schools are also paying council tax!! So one child taking a place at a faith school means that one place is available at a non-faith school for other families. Why should the faith school not receive the same contribution from the council as all other schools?

Finally I imagine that the very reason you would like your children to attend St Anselms or Holy Ghost is because they have a great reputation primarily because they ARE faith schools with the strong ethos that goes with that!!!

[mapryan]

Hi,

To answer the original question rather than use a strawman argument in defence of faith schools:
"Faith schools receive grants (of up to 90 per cent of the total cost) towards capital costs of the buildings and 100 per cent of running costs (including teachers' salaries) from the state. Yet voluntary-aided faith schools are allowed to impose faith restrictions on employment, admissions, curriculum content and on school worship."
http://www.atl.org.uk/policy-and-campai ... chools.asp

Best Regards