Information about CATHOLIC SCHOOLS!

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Catholig

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I have a teacher (I attend public school) who is against school vouchers, and has said that non-public schools don’t require teaching credentials, and basically can teach whatever they want. So I wanted to post a few questions, and see if anyone has any answers.


  1. *]What are the requirements for hiring teachers for catholic schools?
    *]How high are the scores at catholic schools?
    *]Do catholic schools teach creationism?

    I have one source for my second question, but it’s from 1998, and I’d like a little more modern data if possible.

    Thanks,

    Catholig
 
  1. At our catholic schools, to be accredited, which we are, all teachers must have a valid teaching certificate and must maintain the CE credits, the same as public school teachers.
  2. Our local Catholic elementary schools score higher than our local elementary schools.
The high school my kids attend (Catholic) out-scores the top public schools. Last year, 98% of graduating seniors attended a college. The remaining 2% joined the military.
  1. None of the Catholic schools in my personal experience teach creationism. Of course, they do weave our faith into most subjects, but valid proven science is also taught. Our test scores prove that!
 
Catholig said:
I have a teacher (I attend public school) who is against school vouchers, and has said that non-public schools don’t require teaching credentials, and basically can teach whatever they want.
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Wishful thinking on your teachers part…she or he is more likely against vouchers because it would give the public schools a run for their money:D

  1. *]What are the requirements for hiring teachers for catholic schools?
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  1. The school (catholic private) that my kids attend or have attended are all Middle state accredited schools

    As to test scores…the pirvate catholic school kids are testing higher than the local public school kids…a good 15-20% better and on some subjects they score even higher:thumbsup:
    Also the graduation rate at my sons high school is 100% with 98-99% going to top colleges and the remaining 1-2% joining the military
 
Well thank you both for the information, but do you have any sources, studies or what not. I mean, I believe you, but I want to show him what you are saying is true, and see what he says. To do that though I need some studies, for the overall catholic education.

Catholig
 
Catholig said:
Well thank you both for the information, but do you have any sources, studies or what not. I mean, I believe you, but I want to show him what you are saying is true, and see what he says. To do that though I need some studies, for the overall catholic education.

Catholig
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Nothing on line sorry…you can contact your local catholic schools and get the info from them…🙂

I can offer you the link for the Newark Diocese…and the info they offer regarding the secondary schools (high schools) that they over see… rcan.org/schools/profile_hs.htm
and here is the link for the elemantry schools that they over see… rcan.org/schools/profile_es.htm
 
Yes, that is true OP. The test scores are higher than most public schools. The teachers do have to have a valide teaching certificate. I can’t think of any parent who would not want that.

My children attended Catholic school from K-4 for my son and K-3 for my daughter. We had to leave the catholic school as we found out my son had HFA and there wasn’t anything the school could do for him. We were also in the middle of move to another state. The Catholic school here could not help him either.

If your child has a learning disability, or other PDD, the Catholic schools cannot help you. In NC, when the test scores are tallied, the results include all students. So the students who are homeless, do not speak the language, learning disabled, are figured in. Since the Catholic school cannot provide services to children who are outside the norm, the scores will of course be higher. Most Catholic schools also enroll students who are higher on the socio eco ladder.

It is not the Catholic Schools fault, however that services to children that are HFA, learning disabled, etc are not provided, it is a teacher cost issue and as well as accomodations.

If any of you know of a school that services students with learning disabilities, please let me know…as I have called most of the Dioceses in the south and could not find one.

Juli
 
If you really want to give your teacher agita, tell him or her about the wonders of home education:
  • Each state sets a few (some maybe a couple) regulations on parents who home educate.
  • Somewhere between 10,000,000 and 25,000,000 American children are home educated, utilizing a LARGE variety of methods.
  • Home educated children score consistently better on standardized achievement tests, often several years ahead of their public school peers, and on-level to two years ahead of nonpublic school peers.
  • Home educated students are better socialized, because they are not placed in a false socialization situation of only peers with 1 or 2 adults. They have to get along in a day with a variety of people in a variety of settings not afforded public school students.
And if he or she (teacher) sings the song about Catholic schools pick the cream of the crop, dumping the rest back into the public school system- it ain’t necessarily so, at least in the Midwest.
 
Julianna said:
If your child has a learning disability, or other PDD, the Catholic schools cannot help you.
Juli
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Hi Juli,

I have a difficult time accepting this. My child has significant cerebral palsy, attends Catholic school and flourishes beautifully. You’re right, in that they don’t have special classes for the disabled. They don’t have to accomodate her beyond building codes and even that is a bit ‘iffy’.

We’re blessed to have a priest who supports our decision to keep her there. She receives love and compassion from everyone, from the students, the teachers and staff, all the way to the principal. I have a whole bunch of stories I could tell that reinforce ‘mainstreaming’ her at school. She benefits from the other students, and they benefit from her. She’s expected to do the assignments, just like everyone else, even in PE. Sure, she’ll always be last in a foot race, but the others still cheer her on. They don’t treat her any differently, because they don’t see her as different. She doesn’t see herself as that different than any of her buddies.

What I’ve seen in the public schools are ‘special classes’ where ‘those students’ are all tucked away, nice and tidy, out of sight, protected from all the ‘regular kids’. The ‘regular kids’ don’t get to know them, and they are clearly different. With that environment, I believe that socialization for both the ‘regular kids’ and the ‘gimps’ is thwarted. They’re kept apart and treated differently. The ‘special-ed’ kids at the local public school just don’t seem as happy.

I just don’t believe that most of the disabled kids need to be anywhere but a regular classroom, with regular kids. I simply don’t know of any other kid (except the handful of other disabled kids I know in Catholic schools) with the disabilities mine has, who has the social skills, personality and level of happiness that my child has. Concerning the lack of ‘special-services’ in Catholic schools, for me, less is more.
 
I’m confused about teaching creationism. Are you saying that a Catholic school doesn’t teach that God created the world?

My son in 5th grade Catholic school, learns both evolution and creationism.
 
Catholig said:
I have a teacher (I attend public school) who is against school vouchers, and has said that non-public schools don’t require teaching credentials, and basically can teach whatever they want. So I wanted to post a few questions, and see if anyone has any answers.


  1. *]What are the requirements for hiring teachers for catholic schools?
    *]How high are the scores at catholic schools?
    *]Do catholic schools teach creationism?

    I have one source for my second question, but it’s from 1998, and I’d like a little more modern data if possible.

    Thanks,

    Catholig
Click to expand...

  1. I don’t believe in school vouchers either. Mainly because I feel an obligation to all the kids in my community and I don’t like the idea of segregation.
    Also, if the school takes money from the state they better be prepared to
    kowtow to the state and that could present issues.
 
Catholig said:
I have a teacher (I attend public school) who is against school vouchers, and has said that non-public schools don’t require teaching credentials, and basically can teach whatever they want. So I wanted to post a few questions, and see if anyone has any answers.


  1. *]What are the requirements for hiring teachers for catholic schools?
    *]How high are the scores at catholic schools?
    *]Do catholic schools teach creationism?

    I have one source for my second question, but it’s from 1998, and I’d like a little more modern data if possible.

    Thanks,

    Catholig
Click to expand...

  1. Oops, sorry, I didn’t answer your question in my last post. Call the archdiocese in your area and they will have the answers.
 
Karianne said:
I don’t believe in school vouchers either. Mainly because I feel an obligation to all the kids in my community and I don’t like the idea of segregation.
Also, if the school takes money from the state they better be prepared to
kowtow to the state and that could present issues.
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School vouchers wouldn’t create segregation. Please explain.

Catholig
 
I don’t have any personal experience regarding Catholic schools, as I did not go to one and my kids aren’t school age yet.

In regards to the questions about requirements for hiring though… I read an article a while back about a Catholic teacher. The article also provided other sources to look at regarding this issue. It said that most Catholic schools do hold very high standards for their teachers to live their life in holding with the Catholic faith. The article I read was about a teacher who had done something in her personal life that was not in keeping with the faith and was so fired.

Reading this article spurred me to look at some of the source material used for the article and I found it to be pretty informative.

Just thought I would share. I have been looking into some of these things since my son will be starting school in a few years and I would like for him to attend a Catholic school.
 
Kanda said:
I don’t have any personal experience regarding Catholic schools, as I did not go to one and my kids aren’t school age yet.

In regards to the questions about requirements for hiring though… I read an article a while back about a Catholic teacher. The article also provided other sources to look at regarding this issue. It said that most Catholic schools do hold very high standards for their teachers to live their life in holding with the Catholic faith. The article I read was about a teacher who had done something in her personal life that was not in keeping with the faith and was so fired.

Reading this article spurred me to look at some of the source material used for the article and I found it to be pretty informative.

Just thought I would share. I have been looking into some of these things since my son will be starting school in a few years and I would like for him to attend a Catholic school.
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Can you provide some of those sources?

Catholig
 
It seems to me that your teacher is making some unfounded remarks because school vouchers would reduce public school funding. (I’m for them, however, because Catholic education is the best thing that ever happened to me, and if nothing else it seems like vouchers would force public schools to improve so they can meet the standards being set by many private/parochial schools across the country.)

With regards to your questions–
  1. I’m pretty sure requirements vary by state for accreditation of private schools, so maybe check w/ your state’s department of education. On top of that, different schools can set their own standards. I know generally that the academic standards for Catholic school teachers are less–but obviously this does not have much bearing on the quality of education, or else people wouldn’t be trying to use vouchers to go there.
  2. It depends on the school. I’m from St. Louis, a city notorious for the incredible number of Catholic schools we have, and they vary greatly in quality. I know that in both my Catholic grade school and high school the test scores were always above average, both for the country and the district.
  3. If by creationism you mean that in a science class we were taught that the world was created in six days approximately 4500 years ago… no. But Catholic schools definitely approach science differently, because Catholicism understands the role and purpose of scientific knowledge in human life. I personally learned evolution in high school, and at my Catholic university have studied evolutionary theory more in depth–but all of the science I’ve studied in my Catholic education has come to the broader conclusion that “we can’t fully explain all of this,” and that as human beings, we really shouldn’t ever be able to. I’d say most modern scientists don’t appreciate this approach in the least (google Richard Dawkins if you’d like an example of an extreme atheist scientist who by his study of evolution has concluded that belief in God is absurd).
Good luck in your research!
 
I can tell you that a Catholic school teacher in Nebraska must hold a valid Nebraska teaching license just like any public school teacher.

As far as test scores go I would talk to your diocese and ask for the head of the Catholic schools. They should be able to help you.

I’m sure that some Catholic schools teach creationism and some that don’t. Just like i have been in a Catholic school that had a theology teacher who was teaching that women could be ordained. This was clearly wrong, but was still being taught.

Vouchers are a very interesting subject. The Bishop of our diocese is dead set against vouchers. He thinks that if the government is giving money to Catholic schools, either directly or indirectly then there will be strings attached. How would you like it if the federal government came into your Catholic school and said now that we are giving students in your school money to attend this Catholic school, we have a say in the curriculum. We now want you to teach about contraception, abortion etc. I gurantee you this will happen, and the ACLU, and planned parenthood will be the first ones to file the law suits. I believe this is already happening in Canada, correct me if I am wrong. I understand that parents want relief from high tuition cost, but in my opinion is the wrong way to go. There are other ways to lower tuition. In my diocese it cost $500 a year for elementary school and $1,000 a year for high school. If you have over 3 kids enrolled in either school there is a discount. It also isn’t called tuition so that you can write this expense off your taxes as a donation to the church since it is parish funded.
 
I only know about my own state. It would differ from state to state I think.

Anyway, in California, you do not have to have a teaching credential to teach in a private school. It is pretty much up to the school to set their own standards.

That being said, I know that some schools in my area require teaching credentials and some don’t. The school that I went to, and my kids go to now, does not require credentials, though most have them.

Credentials don’t mean much. Experience can sometimes outweigh any certificate. Two of the best teachers we have do not have any credentials.
 
Catholig,

Why not ask your teacher to provide YOU with valid sources for his/her claims? You probably won’t get any and IF your teacher does go looking for some, he/she may learn something in the process. 😉
 
Jared123 said:
Vouchers are a very interesting subject. The Bishop of our diocese is dead set against vouchers. He thinks that if the government is giving money to Catholic schools, either directly or indirectly then there will be strings attached. How would you like it if the federal government came into your Catholic school and said now that we are giving students in your school money to attend this Catholic school, we have a say in the curriculum. We now want you to teach about contraception, abortion etc. I gurantee you this will happen, and the ACLU, and planned parenthood will be the first ones to file the law suits. I believe this is already happening in Canada, correct me if I am wrong. I understand that parents want relief from high tuition cost, but in my opinion is the wrong way to go. There are other ways to lower tuition. In my diocese it cost $500 a year for elementary school and $1,000 a year for high school. If you have over 3 kids enrolled in either school there is a discount. It also isn’t called tuition so that you can write this expense off your taxes as a donation to the church since it is parish funded.
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Jared, I was reading a wikipedia article on Canada, Quebec in particular, that said that catholic schools weren’t allowed to pray the Hail Mary because it isn’t inclusive. But I didn’t understand the entire article. It’s at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_school#Public_schools_in_Qu.C3.A9bec if you are interested.

That said I don’t think it’d work quite the same in America. I just don’t. I think it’d take so many reforms to impose any of the ACLU’s stuff on the schools that it’s not even likely.

Catholig
 
Catholig said:
Jared, I was reading a wikipedia article on Canada, Quebec in particular, that said that catholic schools weren’t allowed to pray the Hail Mary because it isn’t inclusive. But I didn’t understand the entire article. It’s at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic_school#Public_schools_in_Qu.C3.A9bec if you are interested.

That said I don’t think it’d work quite the same in America. I just don’t. I think it’d take so many reforms to impose any of the ACLU’s stuff on the schools that it’s not even likely.

Catholig
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Well, if you don’t think things would change if there were vouchers, just look at the states that don’t allow a pharmacy and/or hospital to practice as their belief system states (not filling prescription for abc or ru486 etc.). I don’t agree with vouchers, however, I do agree that everyone with a child should recieve a tax credit to use to pay for their child’s education at a public, private, or home school. The strings wouldn’t be attached to the school this way, each parent would have the say and means for their child(ren)'s education.
 
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