Catholic Education

I just received a message on my Deacon’s Facebook page from a follower asking my thoughts about the recently published N.Y Times Op-Ed piece and the role deacons could play as part of the solution to the crisis we face in Catholic Education.

 

The article begins by listing many of the current statistics of where we are today with regards to this issue:

     ·       More than a third of parochial schools in the United States closed between 1965 and 1990 Enrollment fell by more than half during that time

     ·       Since then, enrollment has plunged despite strong demand from students and families.

     ·       At the same time the need is great as almost 30 percent of Catholic schools have waiting lists

     ·       The American Catholic population has grown by 45 percent since 1965.

     ·       Hispanics, who are often underserved by public schools, account for about 45 percent of American Catholics and an even higher proportion of Catholic children, but many cannot afford rising fees.

Just about a year ago, during Catholic Schools Week, I wrote a series of blogs on Catholic Education that also identified the following:

     ·       Since 1960 the number of religious sisters in the US has dropped from 180,000 to about 56,000, with an average age of 69 years.

     ·       In 1960 the sisters accounted for 92+% of the faculty, they now account for 2.5%

     ·       In order to remain somewhat competitive Catholic schools have had to begin to compensate the faculty closer to the pay of the public sector, adding to their escalating costs.

In summary, the future of Catholic Education is a multifaceted problem:

Money: The financial model of the 1960’s is long gone where Catholic education was a ”gift” of the Church on the backs of the religious for the benefit of the children of the parish. Catholics, as a group, need to decide the importance of Catholic Education and then support it.  Note: in Lakewood NJ, the public schools serve 5,300 students.  The Jewish Orthodox, financially committed to teach its faith, educate 17,000 students!

Staffing: As the writers of the Op Ed piece point out there are certainly opportunities for deacons to assist, along with Lay Ecclesial Ministers and the laity – but in general, that is happening now.  But certainly, as the number of deacons increase (where allowed by the local bishop) and when the deacons are allowed to function fully in the faculties that came with their ordination (where allowed by local bishops and their pastors), then yes, many of them can add great value in a variety of areas, working alongside the priests and the laity in running parishes and schools.

Parental Involvement: What is often overlooked is role that each parent must play in the education of the children in the faith.  For those married in the Church, it was a promise made on the day of their marriage – i.e. to raise the children in the faith, for they are to be the first and best teachers in the faith.  Catholic Education is more than just having a Catholic School.  It is how we raise our children, love our children, and teach our children by being living examples of what it means to be a Christian – a disciple of Christ.

So I cannot necessarily agree with John J. Hughes, the first archbishop of New York (1842), who was quoted in the article as saying some 160 years ago: “The school is more necessary than the church.”  I would say in 2013 – the schools….the laity….the parents…the clergy…all play equal and critical roles in looking ahead as to what the “church” and “church schools” of the next 50 years will look like.  Needless to say, it will not be same...

Your thoughts?

Catholic Schools Week: The buck stops with us!

So in the end, it seems to always comes down to the dollar.

As I have outlined in the earlier posts the financial model of the 60’s is long gone.  Most parishes can no longer subsidize the schools, not all parents can afford the rising tuition and qualified and experienced faculty need to be paid fair wages.

But what is the quality of Catholic Schools? The National Assessment of Educational Progress is widely considered the gold standard among student achievement tests. In 2008, it released a report on long-term trends. In each category, and for every age group, students in Catholic schools outperformed students in public schools.

So are Catholic Schools worth investing in?  Well an atheist thinks so! Robert Wilson, a successful, retired Wall Street investor is the single largest benefactor of Catholic Schools in the history of the Archdiocese of New York.  Since 2007 he has donated over $30 million to inner-city Catholic Schools. He also happens to be an atheist.  He recognized that the Catholic schools get little outside financial support and yet do an incredible job in educating children.  What surprised him even more was that nobody seemed to be doing much about it, including Catholics themselves. So he put his personal wealth were he felt it counted most – in Catholic schools.

There is no silver bullet to fix the problem.  Long gone are the times where the local pastor and parish are solely responsible for the costs and decisions of the school. As governance needs to change so, too, does the financial support. While Catholic educational models will change to meet the dynamic world we live in…Catholics will need to heed the call for financial help.  Vatican II reminded all Catholics that we have a right and an obligation for full participation in the faith.  That includes using gifts of time and money to ensure that our faith continues to be taught to future generations.

In the words of Gandhi: You must be the change you want to see in the world.

Catholic Schools Week: Light at the end of the tunnel?

Bombarded with the closing of Catholic schools the question remains - what options are available...and is there any light at the end of the tunnel?  I think the answer is yes, if Catholics (priests and laity) are ready and willing to make the necessary changes.  

The problem took fifty years to fully unfold and will take years to rebuild.  The issues are complex and vary in every state, city, diocese and parish.  Keep in mind that about 25% of all Catholic schools currently open are doing something right as they sit with long waiting lists – the challenge is to address the remaining schools with an eye to new options and models, such as: 

Regionalization: this is a growing option forced by default.  That is, as parish schools are closed they are merged into more cost effective regional schools.  Advantages of this: control of the school and its curriculum move away from the parish priest (who often has little training or background in running a school, and yet can unilaterally make decisions affecting the school) to a regional and more professional school board.  This also moves to a financial model that spreads the cost among more of the faithful (more on that tomorrow.)

Charter Schools: identified as one of the precipitating factors that led to the closing of Catholic Schools, there are many, including Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington DC, who actually feel this is actually a win-win model for Catholic education.  In the nation’s capital, twelve Catholic schools were converted to Charter Schools. How did that fare?  Click here for a full published report.  Lawrence Weinberg, in his 2007 book, Religious Charter Schools: Legalities and Practicalities, explains how faith-based organizations can make use of the chartering mechanism within current laws (by "accommodating" religion, not "endorsing" it), and gives examples of schools across the nation that seem to be testing the legal boundaries.

Vouchers: There are a variety of variations on this concept including educational vouchers and tax credits.  It was strongly supported and argued in favor of by Nobel Prize winning economist Milton Friedman who stated that competition would improve schools and cost efficiency. While supported by New Jersey’s current governor, it has yet to be passed in this state.  But just last year Indiana passed its voucher law, bringing needed funding to 250 approved schools, of which 177 were Catholic.

So who picks up the tab for all of this?

More tomorrow.

Catholic Schools Week: A Changing Face

In addition to the stats in yesterday’s blog one cannot ignore the demographic changes of our Church in the US.  While the percent of the total population who claim to be Catholic actually has remained basically unchanged from 50 years ago (+/-22%), the ethnic face of the Church is dramatically different. A Church that was once predominantly white, Anglo-Saxon has shifted greatly.  Over 71% of our growth in the past two decades has come from our Hispanic brothers and sisters.  That community now accounts for 39% of all US Catholics, and by 2020 that number will be 50%. 

So for the past fifty years the Church has seen a decline in vocations, changes in family structure, changes in financial stability, changes in demographics and has faced some serious scandals. We are a Church ever changing…and thank the Lord for that. The question that remains is how well we, the church (without the capital ‘c’), which is you and me – respond to those changes.  How do we work in changing the model for Catholic schools?

Some may be asking themselves at this point, do we even need Catholic schools anymore?  Should we even be in the educational business?

The answer is born in numerous studies performed over the past two decades.  Research shows Catholic schools have somehow been able to simultaneously achieve relatively high levels of student learning and distribute this learning more equitably with regard to race and class than in the public sector. In most recent years, researchers have continued to find many benefits of Catholic schools (especially for at-risk students), including higher test scores, improved high-school graduation rates, and higher rates of college attendance. Catholic schools, in other words, somehow manage to narrow the "achievement gap" in a faith-based environment.

So what options are available if we are going to survive the next fifty years?

More tomorrow.

Catholic Schools Week: Storm Damage

The events beginning in the very late 1960’s and carrying through to today has brought a once successful Catholic education model to its knees.  Here are some of the stats that tell the story of the damage and where we are today:

·        Since 1960 the number of religious sisters in the US has dropped from 180,000 to about 56,000, with an average age of 69 years.

·        In 1960 the sisters accounted for 92+% of the faculty, they now account for 2.5%

·        In order to remain somewhat competitive Catholic schools have had to begin to compensate the faculty closer to the pay of the public sector, adding to their escalating costs.

·        Charter Schools took hold in the 1990’s which contributed to the undermining of the urban Catholic education.  This new option offered presumably safer and tuition-free schools in the urban neighborhood, allowing many parents to forgo the expense of Catholic schools.

·        Since 1960 more than 6,000 Catholic schools have closed with a loss of 3,000,000 students - a reduction of about 50% of the schools and 60% of the students.

·        During the same period the average size of the Catholic family is down 50% to 2 children.

·        Many major urban areas:  including Chicago, New York, Brooklyn, Camden and most recently Philadelphia have or are in the process of closing 25 – 30% of their Catholic schools.

·        Where Catholic schools once claimed 90% of the private school sector they only represent 1 in 5 non-public schools.  And of those that remain only 1 out of every 8 is located in the inner city – where the need is the greatest.

In summary, over the past 50 years the Catholic school system has been crushed from all sides.

So what now?  All we hear about are how many schools are closing.  Do Catholic schools have a future?  Is there even a value in having Catholic schools? 

More tomorrow.

Catholic Schools Week: The Perfect Storm of the 70's and 80's

So what happen to those golden years of Catholic Education of the 1960’s?  Actually a number of events took place that quickly eroded the once successful model.

·         While Vatican II did an immeasurable amount of good for the Church, it did lead to many disheartened religious leaving the Church – including those who were teaching in the schools.

·         The population was on the move.  Armed with more resources than previous generations, families were able to leave the cities and head to the growing suburbs. With the minority of Catholic schools in the suburban areas there was no way for them to take this sudden influx from the urban schools.  Parents having less of an imperative to use Catholic schools and little options at their disposal, placed their in the public school system.  

·         A continued movement away from the Church began to drain the pews and thus the weekly collections. Yet thousands of schools, constructed at the turn of the 20^th century were in need of repairs.

·         Artificial birth control, while banned by the Church, began to be used widely which was a contributing factor reducing the size of families.

·         Inflation was on the rise – four times the rate of the previous decades.  Therefore costs were rising, collections were down, enrollment was on the decline and there was no Internet to allow the dissemination of information in a quick and organized way as to the disaster taking place.

This is what is referred to as: The Perfect Storm

How much damage did this 'storm' create?

More tomorrow.

Catholic Schools Week: The Golden Years - The Early 1960's

Often to determine where you are, it is best to see where you came from.  Kicking off the week-long look at Catholic Education,  let’s look back to the “good old days.”  It was just fifty years ago when we were turning kids away for lack of space!

It was the 1960’s and 5.7 million children were being educated in Catholic Schools in the US – accounting for 12% of the entire US school population.  In this pre-birth control era,  Catholic families had an average of 4 children.  The immigration of Irish, Polish and Italians from the prior decades fostered many urban parishes to pop up, some only blocks apart.

During this decade, Vatican II came to a close and full and active participation of all the faithful fostered by liturgies being said in the vernacular, versus Latin, contributed to vibrant parishes.  And the fuel used to power the 12,893, mainly urban, Catholic schools?  Religious sisters!  In fact they represented some 90+% of the faculty used to teach in these schools…most paid little to nothing as it was their ministry.  And while many of them were gifted in the profession (and I can remember some from my grammar school days at Our Lady of Peace, New Providence, NJ), there were many more who gained their training on the job.

But without these dedicated religious, Catholic education would never have flourished to the extent it did. The early 1960’s model was perfect: bulging number of Catholics, large families, schools with a majority of ‘free’ labor who provided a safe, effective and religious environment for a primary and secondary education. And pew filled parishes had weekly collections that supported the parish schools to the point where the tuition was nominal, making it affordable for nearly anyone who wanted to come.

So what happen?

More tomorrow.

Catholic Schools Week - 2012

This being the last Sunday in January heralds the beginning of Catholic Schools Week - the national appreciation of Catholic primary and secondary education.  Started in 1974, this annual celebration reminds us of the important role the Catholic Church plays in providing a value based education rooted in intellectual, spiritual, moral and physical development for the youth of this country.  The main purpose of Catholic Schools Week is to build community awareness of the importance of our Catholic Schools and to encourage personal involvement.

It seems all we hear or read about has to do with the closing of Catholic Schools – but the story is so much more complex than that.  It requires one to step back and take a brief look over the past 50 years to see where we came from and where we are headed.  The story is one of a broken model, rising costs, and a decline in the number of active Catholics.  At the same time it is also a story of incredible successes, benefits to the community and a need for great leadership.

So to celebrate Catholic Schools Week in my own way, this week I will blog each day on the different aspects of Catholic education and will provide some basic statistics that will raise at least an eyebrow or two.  I will talk about what is working and what is not…and possibly what happens if we (that is a collective we) do nothing going forward.

So I hope you will join me and take a few moments to read the postings. I encourage you to comment back in order that we can build a dialogue about the important issues surrounding Catholic education which will have a profound effect on the foundation for the future of the Church.