ABSTRACT
The 1988 Education Reform Act for England and Wales gave new hope to those wishing to extend the range of schools supported by the state. Since 1979, the Conservative government gradually increased its interest in the idea of extending choice in education, first through the Assisted Places Scheme, the City Technology Colleges, and later through open enrolment and grant-maintained schools. At the beginning of 1989 the Christian Schools Campaign was established with the long term goal of obtaining public funding for the schools. The Christian Schools Campaign became the fronting organisation for a Private Members Bill that was introduced into the House of Lords by Baroness Cox in November 1990 and debated in March 1991. By 1992 Christians in Education (CiE) had taken up the battle for state funding of Christian schools and it was CiE which made the crucial interventions in the 1993 Act.
