Radical Changes Pay Off For D.C. Catholic Schools

[Maranatha]

Radical Changes Pay Off For D.C. Catholic Schools

Many Catholic schools in the District seemed moribund in 1995. Paint was peeling, and enrollment and test scores were dropping. Advisers urged the archbishop of Washington to shut or consolidate several schools serving low-income neighborhoods.

Cardinal James A. Hickey refused. “I won’t abandon this city,” he said. Instead, Washington’s Catholic schools began a series of drastic changes in 1997. New administrators armed with research on what worked in urban education put many schools under the same office. They told teachers that they would be judged on how much their students improved, required them to use common math and reading curricula and adopted learning standards that had worked well for Indiana, 500 miles away.

was one of the most radical realignments of Catholic education ever attempted in a U.S. city. Ten years later, principals and teachers at the 14 schools in the archdiocese’s Center City Consortium are celebrating a sharp turnaround in student achievement and faculty support. The consortium serves about 2,400 students through eighth grade, nearly a third of whom receive federally funded tuition vouchers.

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[vern_humphrey]

And there’s no reason we can’t do that in every diocese. We shouldn’t be shrinking and closing Catholic schools, we ought to be expanding them and opening new ones. We ought to be going into the worst slums and poorest sections of the country and giving poor children an opportunity to get a first-class education.

Shame on us!

 

[Nohome]

And there’s no reason we can’t do that in every diocese. We shouldn’t be shrinking and closing Catholic schools, we ought to be expanding them and opening new ones. We ought to be going into the worst slums and poorest sections of the country and giving poor children an opportunity to get a first-class education.

Shame on us!

I agree. My Church recently switched to K-5 because the city opened a new middle school. The idea was to synch their grades with the public school. I said “why not expand to K-8?” I think parents would have leaped at the opportunity.

We don’t have a Catholic high school, but maybe we could if the K-8 model worked.

Nohome

 

[vern_humphrey]

I agree. My Church recently switched to K-5 because the city opened a new middle school. The idea was to synch their grades with the public school. I said “why not expand to K-8?” I think parents would have leaped at the opportunity.

We don’t have a Catholic high school, but maybe we could if the K-8 model worked.

Nohome

This is what bothers me about some proponents of “social justice” – the things we can do to make society more just, like educating those children whom the public schools have failed – are ignored. Instead we become cheerleaders for various government programs – and expect someone else to advance the ball.

It’s time for us to get off our Catholic butts and do something.

 

[johnnykins]

And there’s no reason we can’t do that in every diocese. We shouldn’t be shrinking and closing Catholic schools, we ought to be expanding them and opening new ones. We ought to be going into the worst slums and poorest sections of the country and giving poor children an opportunity to get a first-class education.

Shame on us!

A first class education is certainly a good thing. A first class Catholic education would be a better thing. I’m glad the DC schools are doing well academically. I would be interested in knowing if they teach the faith, too. My guess is, my fear is, that religion class is still no more than a do-good/feel-good add-on. Please God that I am wrong.

 

[vern_humphrey]

A first class education is certainly a good thing. A first class Catholic education would be a better thing. I’m glad the DC schools are doing well academically. I would be interested in knowing if they teach the faith, too. My guess is, my fear is, that religion class is still no more than a do-good/feel-good add-on. Please God that I am wrong.

In the end, I’m afraid, it all goes back to the Bishops. We have too many bishops who won’t lead, won’t call on us to make sacrifices, and won’t stand up for Catholic morality.

 

[chicago]

The consortium serves about 2,400 students through eighth grade, nearly a third of whom receive federally funded tuition vouchers.

I think that this may well be the key to them keeping away from closings and turning things around. Where would those schools have been without the vouchers?

 

[vern_humphrey]

I think that this may well be the key to them keeping away from closings and turning things around. Where would those schools have been without the vouchers?

Public education doesn’t require the government to own schools, or hire teachers. We should have free choice in education – let the government divide the education budget by the number of students and pay 90% of the per-pupil share of the budget to any school – public or private, for-profit or non-profit – the parents choose.

Let the parents choose the school they feel is best for their child, and let the good schools prosper and the bad schools die.

 

[LastPew]

Ahhh, the continuous and often disappointing Catholic school talk. I was a Catholic school teacher for 4 years. It is very hard to raise a family on a budget like what I received. I am a 29 year old husband and father, married 5.5 years. I LOVE working in the Catholic school setting, but cannot afford it. Who can? That means my wife would have to work to supplement my salary, she is a RN and makes about twice as much as I would.

How is a Catholic school to retain talent if it cannot afford to pay a family wage, especially a family wage that would provide to raise a family wanting to generous to life? The best teacher I have worked with has 4 children, all 5 and under, and he is a solid Catholic man with a MA and some PhD work and a school can only afford to pay him between 30 and 40K. Come on. Something is wrong here. Catholic schooling is a mission type lifestyle, but not a mission of priests and religious, rather a mission of the laity. Who will step up and give generously to support Catholic teachers, especially those who support the family on that salary? Anyways, lots of work to be done, and the funny thing is it starts with the heart.

If there are ideas, let them roll! I have thought about opening a fundraising foundation for Catholic school teachers so that they could have extra income outside of the school system. Maybe extra school fundraising just for teachers salaries would work, I don’t know the solution, I know the problem.

 

[vern_humphrey]

Ahhh, the continuous and often disappointing Catholic school talk. I was a Catholic school teacher for 4 years. It is very hard to raise a family on a budget like what I received. I am a 29 year old husband and father, married 5.5 years. I LOVE working in the Catholic school setting, but cannot afford it. Who can? That means my wife would have to work to supplement my salary, she is a RN and makes about twice as much as I would.

How is a Catholic school to retain talent if it cannot afford to pay a family wage, especially a family wage that would provide to raise a family wanting to generous to life? The best teacher I have worked with has 4 children, all 5 and under, and he is a solid Catholic man with a MA and some PhD work and a school can only afford to pay him between 30 and 40K. Come on. Something is wrong here. Catholic schooling is a mission type lifestyle, but not a mission of priests and religious, rather a mission of the laity. Who will step up and give generously to support Catholic teachers, especially those who support the family on that salary? Anyways, lots of work to be done, and the funny thing is it starts with the heart.

If there are ideas, let them roll! I have thought about opening a fundraising foundation for Catholic school teachers so that they could have extra income outside of the school system. Maybe extra school fundraising just for teachers salaries would work, I don’t know the solution, I know the problem.

Before I start, let me say I note the irony here – “social justice” people say there are no iron laws of economics, and businesses can pay higher wages, just by dipping into the magic money pot in the back room. Yet when it comes to the Church, suddenly the non-existant iron laws reappear.

To start out, imagine we have leadership from the Bishops, who tell us how important Catholic schools are. Suppose they condescend to lead us. To tell us we must give more – perhaps a monthly extra collection for Catholic schools?

Next, suppose we begin developing the School of the Future. We have all the technology we need to teach most subjects via the internet. Teachers are used for those students who need personal, hands-on attention. Most students need discipline and supervision – but not necessarily a degreed teacher qualified in each subject.

Third, we should seek to go from hand-to-mouth budgeting to endowments – just as many other wealthy institutions do. Let us call on those who have benefited from a Catholic education to give something back to be invested for the future.

Finally, we seek efficiencies of scale – a bigger Catholic education system will cost less per-pupil than a shrinking one. Let’s start expanding, going into ghettos and other areas where education is lacking.

 

[LastPew]

The best teacher I was referring to has no formal education training, another point I disagree with most dioceses. The top Catholic schools I know of in the country have many teachers without a teaching certificate. You see education should be about understanding, not finding the fastest way to program a mind.

I have thought of a possibility as well. When retired comes, a Catholic volunteers like 2 or 3 directly to the Church and her different systems. More than likey many will help in the education systems. These could raise funds, volunteer for fundraisers, teach with less pay so that another still raising a family can afford to teach. This eliminate a constant need for priests doing non-priestly functions as well. More time for them to pray and offer the Sacraments. I realize many retired adults cannot afford to volunteer, but I know would be able. Even if it is helping with kitchen or giving the teacher a period off or something. Another option is providing camps and the like during the summer. How about teaching other arts that are not part of the curriculum? It would help to provide more charitable giving, it does not have to go this way. I realize there are many services provided by the Church. Education is important and the Catholic school should be at the top of the list when it comes to education. The government should be coming to us to figure out how we do it. Paying teachers low money really isn’t going to attract the best talent. I am not talking about living in the country club, but decent enough salary to at least be able to afford Catholic education themselves. Some schools give free education to the children of their faculty, and the question then should be “Does the school pay enough salary by itself or does this benefit of a free education used as part of the salary figure?” Think of it this way, if a teacher gets free education for all 8 kids, the mother is staying home to raise the youinger children not yet in school, how is that man going to provide for the family on a salary of 40K? And 40K is generous. I live in San Antonio and taught for 4 years and my salary was 27,070. Wow, that is barely a living wage. I could not afford getting a masters. So I stay home now with the children and go to school and my wife works. Yes, new grads will take the position, good luck on keeping them once a family is started and they want to a spouse stay at home. So the cycle of new hires keeps going and no one gets to the point of the craft of teaching.

Something needs to be done. It would probably be better if done sooner than late.

 

[KellyEr]

A first class education is certainly a good thing. A first class Catholic education would be a better thing. I’m glad the DC schools are doing well academically. I would be interested in knowing if they teach the faith, too. My guess is, my fear is, that religion class is still no more than a do-good/feel-good add-on. Please God that I am wrong.

Hear, hear! Let’s make the religion in catholic schools the focus of excellence! Orthodox religion classes. Faithful to the magesterium.
From our lips to God’s ears.

 

[KellyEr]

My grandchildren attend catholic school in Oregon. Good theology so far…
But I’d like to know more about the vouchers spoken of in the OP’s quoted article.
Can anybody give me more info about vouchers.
Kelly~