When Catholic schools were being built, families mortgaged their farms for the building project. Weekly Mass attendance was a given fact and donations were generous on Sunday morning. Most people had a modest home without air-conditioning, dressed frugally (often homemade), and there was little technology to tempt spending. The priorities were to work hard, give to God, and get along the best we can for the rest. Catholic schools were filled with "Catholics."
Catholic Schools Today
Today, Catholic schools are not filled with all Catholics. These schools are the school of choice for many non-Catholics who gladly pay tuition for the structure and atmosphere within the Catholic schools. This is especially true of the inner cities where public schools have not met the needs of the children. Some Catholic schools in the inner city are filled with 100% financially needy students with a waiting list to enroll. Unfortunately, this leads to a financial emergency. If 100% of the students are financially needy, where will the money come from to pay the teachers, heat, electricity and books?
Rev. Timothy Scully, CSC, founder of the Catholic version of Teach for America, Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education, says, "We have no choice. We either reinvent ourselves or I don’t see how we don’t ultimately disappear from America’s inner cities. The model upon which we were founded was so different, both from a cost and supply side." [1]
Why Not Attend Public Schools?
The reason the children transferred to the Catholic schools is because the inner city public school systems have already failed them. As an alternative to the failure, parents chose another school and children were more successful. So, returning to the public schools that failed them is not a choice parents want to make.
Creative Solutions to Keep Catholic Schools Afloat
The days are gone where sisters taught in Catholic schools for little more than room and board. Not only is there a large shortage of sisters, but the few that are choosing the convent are bypassing education and working as social workers or in hospitals.
So, Catholic schools are hiring lay teachers and offering competitive salaries and benefits. However, there have been changes in how they do business. Some creative methods have worked for parochial schools.
- Students work to pay off tuition.
- Converting into charter schools with the same staff and curriculum only removing the teaching of religion.
- Forming partnerships with philanthropists.
- Pastors are being replaced by lay people that specialize in business and fund-raising.
Catholics schools seem to be thriving in city suburbs with some setting record enrollments this year in spite of the present economy. Unfortunately, half of the parochial schools are located in the inner cities where students don’t have access to the suburbs. Cristo Rey is a successful model for the future. But, a few success stories get lost in a sea of hundreds of schools in jeopardy.
Financial Implications if Catholic Schools Close
What will society see if large numbers of Catholic schools close? The public will see an economic backlash. Public schools receive funding for every student in their district from the state and federal government to run schools. Midwestern states receive $5000-7000 per student. On the coasts, the cost per pupil is closer to $10,000-$12,000. Catholic schools do not receive this funding stream but must raise the money in other ways.
If 1,000 Catholic schools close in the next decade, those students must attend school somewhere. Taxpayers will have to come up with the funding in increased taxes to cover each student newly enrolled in the public schools. Not only must the overhead costs be covered, but also the local school may have to expand the building to hold the increased number of students and increase in staff. Catholic schools build their own buildings and pay their teachers without receiving government assistance.
The financial implications are clear. With every Catholic school that closes, taxes will increase. With the cost of the stimulus package, health care reform, multiple bailouts and two wars, taxes are guaranteed to climb even more.
[1] Gilbert Cruz, "Looking for Solutions to the Catholic-School Crisis," time.com, October 12, 2009.
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