Fifty years ago, it was common to find a community with a small Catholic School filled with children wearing uniforms. But, each year, more schools close.
After World War II, the baby boomers were entering school. Many enrolled at the local Catholic School with no tuition. The local parish paid all expenses with inexpensive but highly-educated staff. The instructors and administrators were nuns wearing traditional black and white habits with the parish priest acting as superintendent. The parish provided housing for the sisters and in exchange they taught in the schools with token salaries.
Savings To Taxpayers
Most people are not aware that for every child in a parochial school, there is a tax savings. Public schools receive funding for each child entering the building. The range runs from $5,000 to over $12,000 per child. For every child in a parochial school, taxpayers are saving money because the local church is paying for the education of the children enrolled in the school and not taxpayers.
Recent Course
The schools that educated so many are now in decline. Many small, rural communities can no longer afford to keep the doors open to the parochial schools. There are many reasons for this. One reason is that Catholic families no longer have 6-8 children filling schools. While the official stand of the Catholic Church may be to condemn birth control, Catholic families are averaging 2-3 children, the national trend.
Another factor is the shrinking number of women entering the convent. In most states there are currently more sisters in nursing homes than teaching in schools. Therefore, the few that are teaching are demanding compensation to fund those in retirement. Catholic schools now hire lay teachers and many schools have no sisters teaching.
The lay teachers are not willing to work for poverty wages and expenses are rising. Catholic school budgets are now similar to public schools. The local parishes and tuition fees paid by parents now fund the parochial schools. Sending a child to a Catholic school is now a serious financial decision.
Rural areas are seeing an overall decline in population. Even public schools are finding it difficult to remain solvent. Schools are combining to survive.
Moving To The Suburbs
The trend to move out of the inner city to the suburbs is affecting all schools. As families improve their lifestyle, they move into larger homes and take their children with them. Left behind are often those that can not afford to pay tuition. The options are between unaffordable tuition and public schools with 50% graduation rates. In the past, the archdiocese would subsidize the inner city parochial schools. That is becoming prohibitive.
Charter Schools
The federal charter school law does allow parochial schools to become charter schools. However, the religious component would be discontinued. The controversial New York City Arabic school, Khalil Gibran International Academy, is funded by taxpayers. Washington D.C. is closing its doors to twelve parochial schools and reopening them as charter schools for next year. This will be at a cost of $15.7 million. Present buildings will remain open with rent being paid to the owners, the archdiocese. [Theola Labbe, Washington Post, April 11, 2008]
NCEA
The National Catholic Education Association released a report, "Who Will Save America’s Urban Catholic Schools?" In the report it states that taxpayers in the United States are now spending over $20 billion more to education children because of Catholic schools closing. A Thomas B. Fordham Institute report states that 1,300 Catholic schools have closed their doors since 1990. Taxpayers are picking up the tab. [Theola Labbe, Washington Post, April 11, 2008]
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