The Role of Catholic Schools

[Who_Me?]

Yeah, maybe that is a fourth factor.

Still, from what I'm seeing, there is a nun or a Brother heading up most of these schools, and the quality of education hasn't suffered due to going with "lay teachers." For one reason or another, there doesn't seem to be any problem finding qualified teachers to teach in parochial schools that pay substantially less than the unionized public schools.

The main reason we attract and retain quality faculty is due to the fact that if parents are paying thousands in tuition they are going to make sure their student does their homework, studies for tests, and behaves in and out of class. While the pay is much less in Catholic schools, the environment for teaching is much better than a public school environment plus we don't have to monkey around with a union. This past school year, the Catholic school that I work at conducted in-school classes all year. Our last day of school is this Thursday. Quite a success by our teachers and other faculty. Oh just as an FYI, we haven't had a nun in our school in many years.

 

[AMart]

Catholic parochial K-12 education has been decimated in recent decades by the "perfect storm" of a pedophile crisis in the church, rapidly rising school taxes, and a culture that disdains religious people and beliefs. In my home of Western Pennsylvania, we have gone from about a fourth of all K-12 students attending Catholic parochial schools to something on the order of 5%. Indeed, it is difficult to put a number on it because the schools themselves continue to "drop like flies." Often, some number of Catholic grade schools consolidate and re-name themselves, year after year, until we have one school serving an entire region...and still attendance is dropping year over year.

But concurrently with this development there is a counter-phenomenon going on.

As I look at the various teams competing in the state high school basketball championships, I cannot miss the presence of high schools with names like, Central Catholic, Erie Cathedral Prep, North Catholic, Greensburg Central Catholic, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, and so on. The same is true, to a slightly lesser extent for the football playoffs.

These surviving Catholic high schools are quite pricey and derive no significant state funding, so the tuitions - to the extent they are paid - are quite a financial burden to the parents. They are ALL academically superior to the public schools, boasting higher average SAT/ACT scores, more grads going on to college, more national merit scholarship finalists, and so on.

In athletic circles, these schools are scorned by the public schools for "recruiting" athletes to pump up their athletic teams in competition. And in fact there is no actual requirement that the students (1) be Catholic, or (2) live in any particular school district. And indeed, many of the student-athletes are beneficiaries of reduced or even waived tuition, based on their individual family situations. Not surprisingly, many competing coaches are pushing the state athletic organization to force these Catholic schools out of the brackets that the public schools play in, because their rules give them an unfair advantage. Boo freakin' who.

As a closet racist, I perceive that a large number of the beneficiaries of this whole situation are African American students who would otherwise be attending failing neighborhood schools, and whose prospects improve dramatically when playing BB or FB for conspicuously successful parochial schools. If these teams were forced to play "in their own league" because of their advantages, the incentive for these African Americans to go there would be greatly diminished. Who cares if your team wins the "Catholic League"?

Some say the current system sucks, but it does have its benefits, for a lot of people.

Does this situation occur in other geographic parts of the U.S.?

Catholic schools in greater Cincinnati are doing excellent. And in Ohio Catholic schools win a ton of high school football baseball basketball soccer volleyball etc championships

 

[justinacolmena]

Catholic parochial K-12 education

Should be strictly limited to Sunday school. Kids need their 3 R's and basic science just like all the other kids in school Monday through Friday.

 

[DGS49]

Justinacolmena, the "Three R's" are taught in an environment that runs counter to traditional religious teachings, western civilization, personal accountability, and simple ethical principles. To suppose that five days of propaganda can be overcome by a couple hours of instruction on Sunday morning is folly.

 

[TheParser]

Sad!

Tragic!

Disastrous!

I, too, have read about the closing of many Catholic schools.

I think that the luckiest Americans have been those who attended Catholic schools.

There they got a good basic education and -- above all -- discipline.

Yes, some lucky African American students were able to find a refuge there from the chaos of urban public schools.

Here in Los Angeles, many Jewish students attend private Jewish schools, which were set up decades ago when busing was introduced into the public schools, which caused lowering of academic standards and -- of course -- disciplinary problems.

 

[Moonglow]

Gdjjr..."Liberty" is pointless if based in ignorance. Kids need to be taught not only academic subjects but social norms as well. Then, once they are out on their own they can decide whether to adopt those norms or jettison them. Letting kids act the way they feel like acting is foolishness and deficient parenting.

You want kids to be indoctrinated in other words, but only if you approve.

 

[DGS49]

Socialization is a form of indoctrination. Passing on the values of the civilization.

It is no wonder that the Left abhors it. They stand for NOTHING. Anyone who believes in NOTHING will believe in ANYTHING. And it shows.