WHO WILL SAVE AMERICA ’S URBAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS ? EDITED BY Scott W. Hamilton FOREWORD BY Chester E. Finn, Jr. AND Michael J. Petrilli The Thomas B. Fordham Institute is a nonprofit organization that conducts research, issues publications, and directs action projects in elementary/secondary education reform at the national level and in Ohio, with special emphasis on our hometown of Dayton. It is affiliated with the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation. Further information can be found at www.edexcellence.net, or by writing to the Institute at 1016 16th St. NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20036. The report is available in full on the Institute's website; additional copies can be ordered at www.edexcellence.net. The Institute is neither connected with nor sponsored by Fordham University. WHO WILL SAVE AMERICA’S URBAN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS? EDITED BY Scott W. Hamilton FOREWORD BY Chester E. Finn, Jr. AND Michael J. Petrilli 1 CONTENTS 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 7 FOREWORD 12 INTRODUCTION 21 DIOCESAN/ARCHDIOCESAN LEADERSHIP 22 Wichita: Making Catholic Schools Affordable Again By Bryan O’Keefe 34 Memphis: Revitalization of Diocesan “Jubilee” Schools By Peter Meyer 46 Denver: Marketing Efforts Yield Results By Marshall Allen 55 INDEPENDENT RELIGIOUS ORDER NETWORKS 56 Independent Networks: NativityMiguel & Cristo Rey By Peter Meyer 71 PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 72 Milwaukee: The Mixed Blessing of Vouchers By Marshall Allen 85 Washington, D.C.: Archdiocesan Schools to Go It Alone By John J. Miller 3 97 SUPPORT FROM COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES 98 Higher Education Partners: Catholic Universities Find Ways to Help Urban Schools By Marshall Allen 111 PUBLIC OPINION ABOUT CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 112 American Opinions on Catholic Education By David Cantor, Glover Park Group INTRODUCTION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY merica’s urban Catholic schools unfamiliar with the success of inner-city parochial are in crisis. This report finds that schools in educating poor and minority students.) over 1,300 schools have shut I Nearly nine in ten U.S. Catholics (89 percent) down since 1990, mostly in our have a favorable view of the Church, compared cities. AAs a result, some 300,000 students have been to 58 percent of the general public (just 42 per- displaced – forced to attend other public, private, cent of which views Pope Benedict XVI favor- or parochial schools. The school closures have cost ably). This suggests that the Church needs to do a taxpayers more than $20 billion to accommodate better job of promoting its image, especially regard- the additional students that public schools have had ing its social welfare work for the poor, sick and eld- to absorb. erly. A vigorous campaign to inform the U.S. pub- Is this a crisis worth addressing? Are further closures lic about the effectiveness of Catholic schools in inevitable, or can Church leaders, parishioners, phi- teaching needy inner-city youngsters may help the lanthropists and/or public policymakers reverse Church improve its reputation. these trends? Should they try? This report answers those questions and more. Case Study Findings I The primary causes of massive Catholic school Findings from a closures have been demographics and econom- ics. Over the past several decades, many Catholics National Survey moved to the suburbs, leaving weakened parishes (and parish schools) in their wake. Meanwhile, the I American Catholics love their Catholic schools. number of priests, nuns and brothers working in Eighty-eight percent view them favorably (versus the schools plunged. This forced school leaders to 70 percent who view Pope Benedict XVI favor- hire lay teachers and principals at competitive ably). Yet it is the schools’ religious mission that salaries. The increased costs led to rising tuitions, inspires most Catholics – and may move them to which in turn forced low-income and minority support the schools financially. The attribute that families out of schools they can no longer afford. 91 percent of Catholics most associate with their 5 parochial schools is “developing moral values and I Catholic schools are showing signs of life in a discipline.” handful of strongly led dioceses. In Wichita, a vigorous campaign to encourage tithing has made I U.S. Catholics are also proud of the role that Catholic schools free to all Catholics. The Jubilee Catholic education has played in teaching disad- schools in Memphis illustrate how committed vantaged youngsters. Eighty-one percent associ- Church leaders have attracted funds from philan- ate Catholic schools with “providing an education thropists eager to underwrite that city’s education to inner-city and poor students.” Still, six in ten revival. Increased enrollment in Denver’s Catholic Catholics view “working with economically disad- schools seems to result from recent efforts to mar- vantaged students” primarily as the domain of pub- ket these schools to families who have more educa- lic schools. (It may be that even many Catholics are tion options than ever before. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I Networks of schools run by independent reli- 3. Revive some by closing the other urban gious orders demonstrate real energy and poten- parochial schools. tial. The dynamism and growth of the Cristo Rey and NativityMiguel networks suggest that the best 4. Turn excess school facilities over to charter hope for renewing urban Catholic education may school networks with a proven track record of rest with such endeavors. educating poor students. I Vouchers are no panacea. In Milwaukee, the city with the nation’s largest publicly funded school For parishioners, philanthropists, voucher program, enrollment is still declining in and Catholic school supporters many inner-city Catholic schools. In Washington, 5. Overcome nostalgia and face these problems D.C., despite federally funded vouchers for the head-on. tuition of poor, mostly non-Catholic inner city children, the Church is turning seven schools into 6. Answer the call from bishops who make public charters – which will be well funded, but education their priority. non-religious. 7. Create and support new networks of Catholic I Catholic colleges and universities can play a con- schools. structive role. Notre Dame’s ACE program, a sort of Teach For America for inner-city parochial schools, 8. Grow and replicate ACE – the Teach For shows much promise, as does Boston College’s initia- America for urban Catholic schools. tive to “adopt” an urban Catholic school. 9. Promote efforts to collect data, foster transparency and astutely “market” Catholic Recommendations schools. For Church leaders For public policymakers 1. Make Catholic education affordable for all 10. Find ways beyond Title I services and school Catholic children. lunches to provide (federal, state and local) 2. Make educating the poor a signature Church financial assistance to urban Catholic schools mission once again. and needy children who attend them. 6 Who Will Save America’s Urban Catholic Schools? FOREWORD Chester E. Finn, Jr. and Michael J. Petrilli n 2005, Hurricanes Rita and Katrina in Washington and New York, the nation’s atten- evicted approximately 150,000 children tion will focus briefly on the Roman Catholic from their homes and their schools. Church and its institutions. Soon thereafter, While the government’s response to these President Bush will host a White House conference disastersI was disappointing, the public’s reaction was on inner-city “faith based” schools. Now is a good heartwarming. School systems across the South took time to consider whether one should worry that, in students with open arms, Americans opened their with the closure of Catholic schools, a national pocketbooks, and communities stepped up with sup- treasure is being lost. port and compassion. That’s as it should be. The We at the Thomas B. Fordham Institute have long scale and immediacy of the human tragedy stirred in been concerned about Catholic schooling. Our all of us a compulsion to act. mission is to address America’s vexing achievement Meanwhile, another human tragedy has been gaps, and Catholic schools’ storied history and unfolding on even a larger scale, but this one has estimable track record in successfully serving poor been slower, far less visible, and thus easy to ignore. and minority children make them an obvious target Since 1990, some 300,000 students have been dis- for attention. As part of our philanthropy in placed from their Catholic schools – twice as many Dayton, Ohio, we have been proud to help fund a as were impacted by the hurricanes. Most of these private sector voucher program for inner-city stu- children live in the inner city, and their beloved dents, most of whom took their dollars to the city’s schools closed not because of poor performance, Catholic schools. We admire the hard work and but for lack of funding. If current trends continue, tenacity of the remaining Catholic schools that another 300,000 could lose their schools over the operate on a shoestring and out of a larger sense of next two decades. mission to serve the poor. Before our very eyes – and yet so gradually as to be Yet we’re no Pollyannas. Just as the word “charter” imperceptible – the great American institution that over a schoolhouse door doesn’t guarantee educa- is the urban Catholic school is disappearing. tional quality or effectiveness, neither does a cross 7 on the classroom wall. We’ve seen plenty of Does it matter? Catholic schools plagued by silly ideas, unqualified Does anybody care? instructors, uninspired curriculum, and weak lead- ership – just like many schools in the public sector. Who will do something about it? Yet the steady loss of urban Catholic schools Those are the questions addressed by this land- remains an issue deserving of further attention. mark report – hardly the first to sound an alarm And more importantly, we wondered if there about the demise of urban Catholic schools on weren’t some examples of communities turning the American shores, but one that comes at a critical situation around, successfully pushing against a tide juncture.