Can Catholic elementary schools survive?

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Those schools have been sitting there available to non-Catholics for many decades, most of them have low tuition rates for poor and needy families…yet still the attendance has plummted. Why? Because there are very few Catholics close to those schools. We can discuss this for months, and it will change the hard cold facts that we cannot keep a school open if kids don’t attend, and we cannot force parents to send their kids to a Catholic school. It is an incredibly small percentage of non-Catholics who send their kids to Catholic schools…those are facts…we must deal with the conditions of the real world, and not of some “heaven on earth” that will not happen until Jesus returns.

I would feel different if there was massive attendance and we were closing the schools anyway…that is NOT the case. Deal with the facts, parents in the area around those schools have no interest in sending their kids to Catholics school. Many of those kids are raised in the Baptist tradition and we all know what many Baptists think of Catholics.
 
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TPJCatholic:
Those schools have been sitting there available to non-Catholics for many decades, most of them have low tuition rates for poor and needy families…yet still the attendance has plummted. Why? Because there are very few Catholics close to those schools…
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Because we have failed to recognize them for what they are – missions, not exclusive Catholic clubs.

Our Catholic hospitals thrive, do they not?

We have simply not gone out and worked hard enough to recruit poor children.
 
vern,

You have a good heart, I can read that in your posts. Yet, please, let this sink in: They do not want to attend our schools! Will you force them to attend?
 
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TPJCatholic:
vern,

You have a good heart, I can read that in your posts. Yet, please, let this sink in: They do not want to attend our schools! Will you force them to attend?
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How do you know that? It’s like saying, “they don’t want to eat at McDonald’s.”

McDonald’s didn’t take that as an excuse. They went out and sold their products and uscceeded mightily.

Once upon a time, Catholics (like Saint Paul) were stoned and whipped. Would you say to Saint Paul, “You have a good heart, I can read that in your posts. Yet, please, let this sink in: They do not want to join our Church! Will you force them to attend?”
 
Vern,

I know it because “I” still trust my Cardinals and Bishops. I am not one that thinks that our leaders should never be trusted. When Cardinal George tells us the reasons the schools closed is because the Catholic population moved away and attendance has dropped from 400 down to 50, I tend to give him more credibility than a person on this website. I understand your emotions, yet even Jesus told us to shake the dust off when our peace will not be received. It is very clear that for many years (decades actually) those Catholic schools have been available to poor people, yet they did NOT attend.

Are you supporting forced schooling?
 
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TPJCatholic:
Vern,

I know it because “I” still trust my Cardinals and Bishops. I am not one that thinks that our leaders should never be trusted. When Cardinal George tells us the reasons the schools closed is because the Catholic population moved away and attendance has dropped from 400 down to 50, I tend to give him more credibility than a person on this website. I understand your emotions, yet even Jesus told us to shake the dust off when our peace will not be received. It is very clear that for many years (decades actually) those Catholic schools have been available to poor people, yet they did NOT attend. ?
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And we did not vigorously market those schools to the poorest children. The parents of those children probably have the same impression of Catholic schools that is so prevelent among Catholics – that they are “Catholics only” clubs.
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TPJCatholic:
Are you supporting forced schooling?
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I would appreciate it if you would stop this attempt to attribute to me things I have never advocated.
 
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buffalo:
This was one of the points of my earlier posts about the cost of tuition and for many it is a barrier (there are other threads on this very issue) to sending them to a Catholic School. Imagine if tuitions were eliminated the expanded evangelizaton that could take place. If you can vision it you can achieve it.
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Back in the 40’s and 50’s Catholic parents in the Detroit Archdiocese were required to send their kids to Catholic School by order of Cardinal Mooney. Grade school tuition was free. I think that many nuns felt that they were being exploited and bailed out when Vatican II triggered but in my opinion did not cause their exit from the convent. Our school here in Western Wisconsin has just been remodeled and enlarged to handle increasing enrollments. Tuition is far from free, but there is a trust fund whose income is used to help those in need. Teachers and administration are all lay people. Our Nuns are long gone. We have about 2000 families and only about 25 percent use envelopes. The loose take is insignificant. So much for Catholics in a county that has one of the highest per capita incomes in the state of Wisconsin. There is a large gap between the well to do and those who are struggling just to survive.
 
vern,

I am not trying to attribute anything to you. When faced with facts, you continue to say those schools should be there. The only way for those schools to remain there is if we force kids to attend. Is that what you want, yes or no?
 
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TPJCatholic:
vern,

I am not trying to attribute anything to you. When faced with facts, you continue to say those schools should be there. The only way for those schools to remain there is if we force kids to attend. Is that what you want, yes or no?
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That’s simply not honest.

You make a strawman argument (“The only way for those schools to remain there is if we force kids to attend.”) and then try to get me to accept it.

Please stop.
 
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TPJCatholic:
vern,

You cannot say yes or no?
Submitted with love and respect, TPJ.
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I point out once again that your strawman argument (that somehow force is necessary) is dishonest.

Where is the love and respect in such a tactic?
 
vern,

I am not trying to use any sort of tactic. I am asking an honest question, do you think kids should be forced to attend Catholic schools, yes or no?
 
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TPJCatholic:
vern,

I am not trying to use any sort of tactic. I am asking an honest question, do you think kids should be forced to attend Catholic schools, yes or no?
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No.

You are asking a dishonest question, based on a false strawman that you erected. I have never advocated the use of force – you have injected that into the discussion.

Please stop it.
 
vern,

Was your previous “no,” the answer to my question, or were you saying no to answering?

You are taking a very harsh attitude towards this subject, it seems to speak of force to me…that is why I am asking the question. You seem to have little respect for those in-charge of making these decisions.
 
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TPJCatholic:
vern,

Was your previous “no,” the answer to my question, or were you saying no to answering?

You are taking a very harsh attitude towards this subject, it seems to speak of force to me…that is why I am asking the question. You seem to have little respect for those in-charge of making these decisions.
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And you are taking a dishonest approach to debate with your strawman argument. I reject it completely.

Please stop.
 
vern,

I am presenting an honest question, in order to bring out another point, yet you are reluctant to answer the question. I wonder why?

It is an easy question to answer. Go ahead, ask me the same question, I will respond with an answer and I will not feel insulted or slighted for having been asked.
 
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TPJCatholic:
vern,

I am presenting an honest question, in order to bring out another point, yet you are reluctant to answer the question. I wonder why?

It is an easy question to answer. Go ahead, ask me the same question, I will respond with an answer and I will not feel insulted or slighted for having been asked.
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No. You are taking a dishonest approach to debate with your strawman argument. I reject it completely.

Please stop.
 
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TPJCatholic:
vern,

So, now I am a liar?
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You seem to have adopted a tactic of putting words in other people’s mouths. This is another example of it.

Let’s turn it around – before I answer you on this one, you must answer me. Are you calling ME a liar?

If you are it’s an insult.

If you aren’t, then you admit your injection of the concept of forcing children to go to Catholic schools is bogus.

See how it works?http://forums.catholic-questions.org/images/icons/icon12.gif
 
vern,

I told you that my question was an honest one, and that it was intended to advance the conversation…you called it a dishonest question, basically you do not trust me, you think I am lying.
 
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