Sustaining Catholic Education in and for the Black Community
By Lois J. Carson, Sr. Roberta Fulton, S.S.M.N., Dorothy Gupton, Veronica Morgan-Lee, Freida D. McCray, Mary Crowley McDonald, Kathleen A. Merritt, Sr. Jamie T. Phelps, O.P., Ph.D., Brother Gary Sawyer, ECSA, Deacon Marvin Threatt, PhD.
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Assessment of Successful Models for Catholic Schools in Urban Communities
In his 2006 study of Catholic schools that serve urban communities, Brother Gary A. Sawyer, ECSA, identifies the most formidable challenge facing these schools: they are in danger of closing. Brother Sawyer identifies the root causes, and assesses models that provide solutions.
Challenges
Due to decreased enrollment, lack of funding, the rising cost of education, d other challenges, inner city parochial schools are struggling to provide quality education to children and their families. Many families from lower to middle socioeconomic levels wish to provide the benefits of a Christ-centered education for their children, but lack of expendable income has made Catholic education unaffordable (O'Keefe, 2005).
The decline of urban centers and the flight of large numbers of Catholics to the suburbs has negatively strained the schools' stability and financial status, and has caused many inner city Catholic schools to close (Harris, 1995; O'Keefe, 2005), even while suburban and rural schools have increased enrollment (National Catholic Education Association [NCEA], 2006). Recent reports indicate that a large number of Catholic schools in New York City and Chicago will close at the end of the year (Commonweal, 2005). For decades, these schools served as neighborhood anchors, providing an identity for communities, even after Catholics left for the suburbs.
This migration to the suburbs, as well as from the Northeast and Midwest to the Sun Belt, has changed the demographics of inner city Catholic school neighborhoods. As the population of inner city Catholic schools becomes more diverse, some Black students are experiencing significant disparities in the rate of graduating high school and going on to institutions of higher learning (NBCC, 2006).
Many inner city school families rely on scholarship and foundation grants for tuition fees. Therefore, decreased government support through vouchers or other programs has contributed to the decline in enrollment.
The traditional model of a parish-subsidized Catholic school is no longer effective. In 1969, parishes funded 63 percent of their elementary school bills. Today, while most Catholic schools receive some money from the parishes, those funds are not sufficient to cover operating costs. In urban parishes, a greater percentage of students are not Catholic, and pastors are often reluctant to subsidize schools. Donations to dioceses that traditionally helped support non-self-sustaining schools also have decreased. There is a lack of infrastructure to conduct sophisticated fundraising to compensate for this lost revenue. Additionally, no resources are available to the general public regarding successful models for sustaining inner city Catholic schools.
Catholic schools also face staffing challenges. Teachers often leave parish schools to join public school systems because of better salaries and benefits (Reidy, 2004). Catholic school teachers find it difficult to return to school for more training or to earn higher degrees due to low salaries. While the smaller teacher-student ratio in Catholic schools is beneficial for students, it also means that the regular classroom teacher must manage classroom issues with little outside help. Many teachers leave the Catholic school system due to frustration over the lack of support. Additionally, the high cost of technology makes it more difficult for Catholic administrators to advance curriculum development.
Market values and practices in education appear to be at odds with some of the foundational values of the Catholic educational mission (Grace, 2002). To be sure, much hard thinking and planning must be done, and difficult changes in textbooks, educational materials, and pedagogical methods must be made. Some teachers and administration may have to be reassigned and additional staff enlisted.
A disproportionate share of Catholic school students live in large cities. In particular, urban and inner city Catholic schools serve a large African American community. Of the 189,813 African Americans enrolled in Catholic schools nationwide, 139,484 are enrolled in elementary schools, and 50,329 are enrolled in secondary schools (NCEA, 2006).
Data suggest that public schools in large cities perform poorly compared to other public schools. The urban-school performance deficit appears to be most acute in minority neighborhoods. However, students in Catholic schools learn more in a year than public-school students. The skills that Catholic school students acquire are crucial to helping them to achieve labor-market success. Therefore, as a 1996 survey of Catholic bishops agreed, “The need for Catholic schools to stay open is as great today as in the past” (Reidy, 2004).
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