Why does Catholic school cost so much?

[SummerSmiles]

Our Catholic school has a very strong Catholic identity. It’s not perfect, but after putting 2 children through very decent public schools for K-12, I’m not a fan of the public schools (and I’m a product of them myself).

The catholic school my kids go to incorporates religion in EVERY subject of the day. They go to Mass. They REALLY, REALLY, learn their faith, all day long. It is as different from public schools as night and day. They live their faith.

In our diocese, you only pay for the first two kids in the Catholic schools. As long as you are paying for two, it doesn’t matter how many attend. That is a committment to big families, and a blessing.

What a blessing to have a school like that! At the local Catholic school where I live, the discount for multiple kids is minimal (something like 2%) and you don’t get a “free kid” until you have 6 enrolled. The school is K-8, so you can imagine how many families get that benefit.

If I could find a Catholic school that really incorporated religion and faith into every subject, I would send my kids there without a second thought. I would love for my kids to have that! I would love for my kids to be able to learn, at school, how God is present in every aspect of our lives.

 

[Gertabelle]

Wow, where to start?

I am a public school teacher AND a devout, rosary-praying, mass-attending, parish-supporting ($), magisterium-following, Catechism-carrying Catholic single MOM. I send my son to the Catholic school one mile from my public school so he can be surrounded by the faith his father mocks and rejects (dad allows Catholic school because he went to Catholic school and I’m the one paying for it).

My son’s tuition will be $4000 next year. So I pay taxes to pay teachers in the district in which we live, I get paid through taxes from the district in which I work, and I pay tuition for my son’s education. Not sure if I’m coming out ahead or behind, but I think I know why Catholic schools cost so little. Education costs money, and Catholic school teachers make a pittance compared to their public school peers.

I would LOVE to be able to teach in the Catholic schools – but my pay would be more than cut in half! How many of you could continue to pay your bills if your pay were permanently cut in half? It’s no surprise that some of the teachers at my son’s school are retired public school teachers who don’t need to worry about the pay. So sometime in my early 60s I may finally start my teaching career in the Catholic school system

[Regarding school vouchers:] Oh, my goodness. What a novel idea The teacher’s union will never stand for that, probably because many of them could not compete.

…the private schools can take who they want, while the public schools get to take what they get.

Show me a private school that achieves more with all comers, including all parent groups, and with the terms laid down by educational policy makers, and I’ll hear what you’re saying. I don’t doubt that it can be done, but it is far harder than most of the “angry taxpayers” think. It is a very hard and unenviable task.

:clapping:

As for vouchers, I’m all for them – so long as the private schools who receive them have to accept any student (and family) that comes through the door, regardless of readiness to learn, disability, or parent interest in their child’s education. If the rules and regulations pertaining to student enrollment are equal, then bring on the vouchers.

Gertie
Teacher (15th year), Mom, once-and-future doctoral student

 

[graciew]

QUOTE=Geist;9103875 and kids will pray in public schools as long as tests exist anyway. QUOTE]

True!

 

[ManOnFire]

Seriously…K - 12 Catholic education costs way too much. In my large Texas city, the Catholic schools all seem to be around $6,500 or more per year. There seems to be a disconnect between what parishes practice and what they preach.

Catholic education is essentially unattainable for families who, faithful to Catholic teaching, avoided living in sin and married young, were prayerfully open to life and thereby had multiple children, and live on a single income, since one parent stays at home to care for young children. Unless the working parent has a very substantial, very reliable income, they won’t be able to send their kids to Catholic school. Why make Catholic education unattainable for families who practice what the Church teaches? Why the disconnect?

/end rant

It’s only going to get worse as this administration wants expensive gas prices which naturally lead to a higher cost of living, more debt, more dependency, and naturally and ironically, more votes for them, who refuse to help energy costs. I give them credit for the plan. Failure to fix the problems moves people from freedom to dependency, from church to the agnostic state.

 

[Gertabelle]

Ironically, this whole discussion may be a completely moot point.

At the announcements after mass this evening, our pastor invited us to join our Bishop in fasting this Friday to overturn the HHS mandate. “If the mandate isn’t overturned,” he told us, “our school will close – all the schools in the archdiocese, as well as two Catholic hospitals, and a Catholic university, will close.”

Guess we won’t have to worry about the cost of Catholic education then

Gertie

 

[TheRealJuliane]

Ironically, this whole discussion may be a completely moot point.

At the announcements after mass this evening, our pastor invited us to join our Bishop in fasting this Friday to overturn the HHS mandate. “If the mandate isn’t overturned,” he told us, “our school will close – all the schools in the archdiocese, as well as two Catholic hospitals, and a Catholic university, will close.”

Guess we won’t have to worry about the cost of Catholic education then

Gertie

:sad_yes:

This is a critical election, not just of the President but especially the Senate. Otherwise the consequences will be dire.

 

[Gertabelle]

:sad_yes:

This is a critical election, not just of the President but especially the Senate. Otherwise the consequences will be dire.

Just never thought I’d live to see the day…

 

[anp1215]

Catholic education here is high, between 4,000 and 7,000 for elementary/middle, and more for high school. There is a fancy all-girls academy as well, that charges 16,000 for elementary and 19,500 for high school.

I don’t know what I’m going to do when we have kids…I’m fortunate to live in an area with good public schools. I’m also considering homeschooling. I am almost 100% sure we will not be able to afford Catholic education, unless for some reason we end up having a very small family of one or two kids, and we don’t want that.

I am jealous of anyone who lives in the Diocese of Lincoln! From my brief research, they seem to have the best tuition rates in the country! Between 1,000 and 2,000 dollars a year??? And, I think all of the schools have a “no child turned down due to inability to pay” policy. If you live there, just know you are extremely blessed!