Public School vs. Catholic School

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Sorry I wasn’t very specific. I meant there’s a lot of young people dropping out of the Church; some who went to Catholic schools and some who did not.
 
Thanks for posting. It is my experience that most people on this forum do not like to be reminded of either that particular teaching of Vatican II or if that particular canon.
 
Whether the public school or the Catholic school is better depends on a whole host of factors, including
  • whether the Catholic school is close by or readily available
  • whether the public schools in the area where the person lives are good/ safe schools
  • whether the kid is okay with attending Catholic school, and (especially for junior high and high school) where he or she wants to attend school
  • whether the kid needs any sort of special program and which school offers it
  • whether the family can afford the Catholic school
  • whether the Catholic school will accept the kid, as some of them have admissions criteria
  • whether the kid has a good experience once he gets into the Catholic school
I personally went through 12 years of Catholic school. I would say I had a pretty good experience in Catholic elementary/ junior high school despite the bogus “religion” classes which did not teach me much of anything. Catholic high school was a little more iffy, but not because I wanted to go to public school. I did NOT want to go to public school which at the time was full of stoners and looked like a scene from “Dazed and Confused” and at age 13 I found that frightening. I might have enjoyed going to an elite private prep school with better academics than what I got at my Catholic high school, but my parents couldn’t afford those kinds of schools and they were a long way from our home. Unfortunately in my area the Catholic high schools were (and still are for the most part) single-gender and I think the boys’ high schools were and are much better. Oh well.
 
Oddly, communism seems to be the main idea that has caught hold at my son’s former Catholic high school. Teachers did not discipline kids equally, played favorites, insulted other kids…not cool stuff. Social promotion into classes without the intended prerequisites. Caste system mentality. And poor acceptance rate into competitive schools.
 
No, I have posted the Canon before and it either gets ignored or worse. People assume it never pertains to them. The Canon certainly gives parents an out that only they can decide. But it cannot be ignored,l. In other words, they have to come to a reasonable conclusion that they are unable to send their kids to a Catholic school. If they are able to send their kids to a Catholic school, they are bound by law to do so. Only they can decide, but they can’t ignore it.

The teaching of Vatican II helps also, I had not known about that (I have only read the four major documents of the council). Thanks.
 
In the mid-70s, my sister was at a Catholic school and my mother asked what were they doing about preparing her for First Holy Commmunion? And they said that was up to the parents.

Another person I know had a family of 6. One had tremendous hospital bills and they could not afford to pay the bills and send 6 children to Catholic school even tho both parents were working.

The priest came over and yelled that they were sinning by pulling their children out.

So yeah, the Vatican has written its documents, but people still have to live with the realities of CINO schools, high tuitions, and sometimes really bad encounters.

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First of all, I agree that the Church has failed to make Catholic schools available to all parents. That is a great shame which we all bear a level of responsibility for, but which largely falls on the bishops.
Second of all, we cannot allow an example from the 1970s to affect our decision 40 years later as to if we are able to send our kids to a Catholic school.
I can point out some horrendous examples of liturgical abuse from that time, it does not excuse me from attending mass.

As to CINO schools, it is likely still a problem in places, but my experience is it has gotten way better. One must judge the school at hand, not rely on blanket statements about Catholic schools.
 
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That being said, the two Catholic elementary schools I live near now are terrific and I would recommend them over public school to any Catholix parent 🙂

As to @Allegra’s comment, that is not true here. The racial/ethnic composition of the schools is about the same or better than that of the churches in the parishes they are in.

I think Catholic schools are like schools everywhere: some are terrific, some are academic to the neglect of Catholicism, some simply uninterested in the Faith (tho I think those numbers are declining).

So I think that the advice to look into the schools is good and unfortunately necessary.
 
tafan2 said:
One must judge the school at hand, not rely on blanket statements about Catholic schools.
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Ah, I was still writing my second post when you posted 🙂

Yes, my only point was that as some of those documents were being written, there were reasons not to take the schools seriously as Catholic schools. I think most serious Catholic parents would prefer to send their children to a good Catholic school, so the documents are not really necessary, right?
 
Annie said:
Another person I know had a family of 6. One had tremendous hospital bills and they could not afford to pay the bills and send 6 children to Catholic school even tho both parents were working.

The priest came over and yelled that they were sinning by pulling their children out.
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That’s pretty awful. I know we had some families with multiple kids and financial problems in our parish in the 1960s and 1970s. The pastors then would quietly find some work that the parent could do for the parish in return for free or discounted tuition.

My grandma actually pulled my mom out of Catholic school in the 1930s because her teacher, who was a Sister of St. Joseph, was bullying and shaming her in front of the class. My grandma called the school and told them that she wanted my mother taken out of this sister’s class and put in the class of the other teacher who was teaching the grade level (I think it was 6th or 7th grade). She said, “If my daughter isn’t moved to the new class, I will take her out of the school.” My mother went home that day and grandma asked her if she was still in the class with the mean sister. My mother said yes. My grandma kept her word, called the school and told them her daughter would not be back, and my mother attended the public school from that day forward. It was a gutsy move particularly back in those days but my grandma took no prisoners.
 
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tafan2 said:
But it cannot be ignored,
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When was that canon written?..when Catholic tuition was $150 a year? It must have been written before Catholic schools become unaffordable. Otherwise, not only can it be ignored, it can be sneered at, because only the rich can send their kids to Catholic school today. Imagine what that does to the kids that are there. Seriously, use your imagination. It’s not good.

The line from canon law that says, “If they are unable to do this” should read, “since it is unaffordable for nearly everyone to do this”.
 
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CorydonMundi said:
I went tco both catholic and public school, and public school is nothing but a cesspool of mediocrity and degeneracy. Lazy teachers, lazy students, and government interference.
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I went to a public school and worked at a Catholic school. Some public schools are good…some Catholic schools are good and vice/versa.

To brush so many with the lazy student/lazy teach brush is honestly…a pretty ignorant statement.

We’re making a point of our kids going to the public school here rather than the parish school.
 
We’re putting them in a place where they’re getting a great education and far more opportunities than the parish school…¯_(ツ)_/¯
 
Annie said:
The priest came over and yelled that they were sinning by pulling their children out.
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Where we live, there’s a charter school a town over (10…maybe 15 min away). The priest basically gave away their address in the bulletin (he described where they lived, almost down to the block) and said it was sad (or made him sad) that someone would send their kid 15 min away for school rather than to the parish school.
 
Catholic school tuition here is $1500 a year. And they have scholarships.

In Wichita KS it’s free.

Those are only two examples of affordable Catholic schools.

And canon law is universal, not only for the US where it may indeed be difficult financially.

Worldwide, Catholic schools are not for the rich. In some countries they are funded by the government. In some by private benefactors. In some by the diocese. In some by religious orders.
 
MysticMissMisty said:
Then, what of this from this ver website…?
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That article is totally in line with what I posted.

You stated that the Church didn’t really have any teaching on this topic, and that isn’t true. You now have the links to the teaching.
 
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1ke said:
Worldwide, Catholic schools are not for the rich. In some countries they are funded by the government. In some by private benefactors. In some by the diocese. In some by religious orders.
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In several Canadian provinces, Catholic schools are funded by taxes, same as public schools. So families can freely choose. It is a blessing.
 
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