Catholic Schools - 2009 and Beyond

Yesterday, I wrote again about the DC scholarships and how it will basically die a very slow death unless there is some political change. (Yes, those mean and terrible Republicans allowed these students to leave failing schools. How dare they do that!)

Today, we continue with the drafting of the new Catholic school policy.

According to an article in the Catholic Standard (“After regional meetings...” Page 11 May 14, 2009), we find out the following information:

- There are almost 30,000 students in 98 Catholic schools (K thru 12).
- Of the 8 consultative meetings we have heard about taking place in the Archdiocese to set school policy, apx. 400 people participate.
- Since the 2007 Convocation on education, more than 2,000 people have participated in the consultative process.

So, let’s do some math.

Let’s say that of the 30,000 students in Catholic schools, with three students per family. That means that there are at least 10,000 families and we will say, that each family has two parents. That makes apx. 20,000 adults.

There were apx. 2500 people who participated in the consultations. We know that some were teachers, principals, people w/o children in schools and those with children in schools.

So, even if we say 1500 of the consultation participants were parents, what about the other 18,500? Do they get a say? What about the other Catholics in the Archdiocese, who help to support those schools? Don't they get a say?

To me, this whole process is a sham. There, I said it, a sham.

Look what Thomas Burnford said in the article:

“our experience shows that not every school can continue as it has done in the past, but we do know we can try to equitably distribute the cost of Catholic schools across the archdiocese as best as we can, with the ultimate goal of keeping Catholic schools accessible o as many young people as possible.”

He continues:

"Our hope is to have final approval in the early summer, so we can begin the process of implementation in the fall.”

There you have it. School closings will take place.

I don't care what spin Ms. Gibbs puts on it, I don't care what spin Mr. Burnford puts on it, ask anyone from the Archdiocese if they will close schools, and they will not answer the question. If there were no school closings, they would come right out and say it.

If your child is in a Catholic school, and it is not doing well financially and/or your facility is in need of major repairs, you may just find yourself at a meeting in January with Thom Duffy (CFO of the Diocese) telling you that your school will be closing.

The Archbishop has done this in Pittsburgh, has done it here, and will continue to do it.