Runner wrote: "... they (agnostics/atheists) failed miserably which has led for those honest enough to turn to those who can make things work. Organisations that run without any ethical values… produce the results that our public schools churn out today."
Runner, are you seriously touting the churches as being run ethically? Do you really believe that theism generally leads to someone having morals &/or ethics? Do you honestly believe that being secular precludes a person from having morals &/or ethics?
As far as "failing miserably" goes, I'm hard pressed to think of something that's failed more miserably than religion.
Also, given that politicians are the ones who decided to outsource the service in question, I can only assume that you're extolling politicians as "those honest enough". If that's the case, I hate to burst your bubble, but politicians are hardly renowned for their honesty.

While the academic results of public schools are worse than those of religious schools, a sensible person would have to agree that it probably has more to do with the schools' ability to generate extra revenue than it does with religion (IE: Religiously denominated schools are generally able to afford better teachers because they have higher fees).
Further, I personally believe that the fairy tales of a god who refuses to live by his own doctrines, being peddled by people of (particularly Christian) religious persuasion, is far more detrimental to our society than people having to work on their own personal development later on.
I, for one, am happy that atheists have "hijacked" our academic institutions & governmental agencies.
Would you really prefer a good Christian head of state... like, say, George.W?

Runner also wrote: "Where is there any evidence that... church groups have used this 'highly confidential' information for any reason other to try and get these people a job."
I haven't found any such accusation in Jocelynne's post. To me, Jocelynne's post indicates that there's the potential for churches to misuse the information... & - to answer the question I posed earlier - no, theism does not quantify someone as ethical.

A VEILED ATTACK ON CHURCHES by the Author ? nope..its a full frontal assault.

DID she mention where any "profits" are likely to go ? Lets take one, the Salvation Army. In my area, there are 2 notable church run sites and both are dedicated to drug and alchohol rehabilitation. A farm and another youth camp place.

"Profit" going to worthy social causes NOOOO we can NEVER have that..can we ?

I suppose when I see the caretaker of the Saly rehab farm rolling up for work in his BEAMER.. I'll start to have worries about where the funding is going.

I can't speak for the other Church run employment agencies, but I'll hazzard a guess any 'profit' certainly does NOT go to renovating the Bishops Mansion (..if someone can show me such evidence I'll stand beside you in condemning that Church action. I don't like the Anglican idea of a "ArchBishops Mansion/palace" anyway..its a contradiction of Scripture and "He would be first among you should become the servant of all"

SECULAR EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES are also out there, in DROVES but to read the article you would not believe it. So, the black hand of 'anti Christian rant' is rearing its ugly head and basically destroys any credibility the article otherwise might have had.

Its about as credible as me asking the Author "Are you Jewish and from Hollywood" ? ! with the implied insinuation.

The End.

incubi, from what I've seen the short term results look better for the religious schools but once students move out of that environment into tertiary education they tend to fall behind students educated in the public system (less spoon feeding).

The public system also has it's average impacted on by the fact that they cater for a wider range of students. The privates often don't have facilities to deal with kids with behavioural issues (easier to not accept their enrolement or ask them to leave) where as the public schools have to deal with those kids (except in the most extreme cases).

There are some exceptions to this with some religious schools having good reputations for helping kids with behavioural issues but generally they don't bother. Likewise they are unlikely to have the kids where the kids are only at school because law requires it.

I don't think that there is reason to believe that religious schools give better educational outcomes, rather their average results are based on a more selective sample.

R0bert

R0bert is right. This issue concerns me as there are no real quality controls on private schools. With the right management it makes no difference wether a school is public or private the children will get a proper education. Public schools do have an advantage because their primary focus is education whereas many (be clear on this 'not all') private schools primary focus is on profit. Private schools at the end of the day are buisnesses.
Private schools should be scrutinised as public schools are , we really do not know how well they fare.
Another dimension is the socioeconomic. It does not matter wether a child goes to private or public it is the attitude toward education that the parent has which makes all the difference. As parents we have taught all our children to read before they started school. If a child gets through school with poor results the parent must shoulder much of the responsibility.
Some private schools have become dumping grounds for problem children who are education challenged because their parents think eduction is 100% the responsibility of schools.

West,
"Public schools do have an advantage because their primary focus is education whereas many (be clear on this 'not all') private schools primary focus is on profit. Private schools at the end of the day are buisnesses.
Private schools should be scrutinised as public schools are , we really do not know how well they fare."

You got it a bit skewed there mate. Private schools depend on results to keep the money flowing and to live up to the clients expectations of "education in the real world". Private schools that focus on profits last perhaps the first semester. People may spend the extra money on private schools as a last ditch response to their child's behavior but, they also do it because private schools have the reputation for success. Some historically so. Mind you, there well may be fly by night private schools but, I doubt they impact over all educational performance city or State wide.
And private schools are highly scrutinized. And they welcome the scrutiny because it sells seats and brings in more money to hire even better teachers and build more wings to hold more students.
Students in private schools don't get put forward with failing grades.
And we do know how they fare because good schools have great reputations and entrance is in high demand.

I dont believe so aqvarius. I think the motivation that most people have sending their children to private schools is they see their childs education as a status symbol, keep up with the Jones's. I found it very difficult to find a private school that was actually interested in real education most simply offered gimmicks which are avaliable to the wider public more professionally and cheaper anyway. The other problem with user pay schools is everybody is a customer and have to be treated equally. I know people who have removed their Children because they were gifted and others because their children were slightly intellectually disabled because their needs were not met. I also now know quite a few people who have removed their children from private school because the schools become the dumping grounds for problem children and bullying is a problem. There is now the additional problem of religious based bullying from not only students but also staff. I would also be concerned for children at religious schools because to date staff screening has not been as effective as non-religious schools. Having said all that I am not against private schools , I believe there should be more stringent quality controls on them and an honest consumer advice system giving good information what the returns on the dollar are. If you are paying for a service you should expect guarantees.