Why the insistence that state schools be more like private schools?

Mossbourne academy in Hackney, where famously Ofsted's Michel Wilshaw was headteacher, has said it will be selecting 10 year 9 school places each year by student's potential rowing ability.

Why rowing? Because the headteacher Peter Hughes wants the academy to be the first state school to win the Henley Regatta. He said “We’re obviously looking at what the elite private schools are doing and doing our best to replicate that."
In February Michael Gove also said he wanted state schools to be more like private schools. Not by suggesting that they should have the smaller class sizes and better facilities that private schools get by their funding, but by saying that state schools should be open longer hours and have more testing and competition.

Whilst I think every child should have the choice and facilities to row if they want, and that sure, fine if a state school wants to compete in the Henley Regatta go for it. I think that this need to emulate private schools is worrying.
The only way we should emulate private schools is by increasing the funding of state schools to the sorts of levels private schools manage to hoard. One way to do that and level the educational playing field between state and private — abolish private schools!