Faith schools - the great debate, or no debate?

The UK Government's passionate commitment to 'faith' schools grows ever stronger, despite protests from main teachers' unions such as the NASUWT  and the ATL - whose conference last year called the policy "an assault on tolerance" and called for state funding to end in 2020 for newly created religious schools.   Today we learn that there will be more funding particularly for Hindu , Muslim and Sikh schools to level the playing field (most UK state faith schools are Christian).  The requirement for such schools to take a large percentage from outside the faiths seems to have faded.
   

Teachers express grave concern: Mary Bousted of the ATL says "We question whether faith schools, particularly those where staff and children are chosen on a faith basis, provide an environment for 'interaction between different faiths and communities...and we question why schools, in which the majority of funding comes from the state, should, as the Government proposes, nurture young people in a particular faith."  She also challenged the "restrictive admissions, employment and curriculum practices operated in many of this country's faith schools".   Evidence of restricted admission policies emerges from studies in 2005  and 2006 confirming that disadvantaged and difficult families are under-represented in faith primary schools.   The argument goes that their academic results are only better because they select - not necessarily the brightest children, but the ones with families of steady, churchgoing habits. 
    A Times comment says with sharp flippancy; "All well and good catering for "Jewish Children", "Musilm Children" and "Christian Children", but where are "Conservative Children", "Marxist Children" and "Anarchist Children" going to study?"