Plight of Catholic schools rests on parents, parishes, archdiocese

Some families no longer make Catholic education a priority

by Vivian Roe

Humorous books, comedic stage plays, Saturday Night Live skits, have all taken shots at Catholic schools and at those who "survived" them.

As a product of 12 years of uniforms, nuns as teachers, weekly all school Masses, and once a month confession, I can see the humor in these bits of poked fun at Catholic schools. The problem is that too many of my peers, and too many Catholics in general, have let the parodies become their perspective. Catholic schools deserve to be flourishing institutions once again, worthy of our respect and esteem, rather than our mockery.

Recently, the six remaining Catholic elementary schools in the Bay View/southeast side of Milwaukee announced a consolidation plan. The reason is partially demographics, but is primarily due to the fact that Catholic families with children of school age have opted for the secular (and the tuition free) public school system rather than face paying tuition.

The cost of tuition is a prohibitive factor for some parents who may desperately want to give their kids a Catholic education. But, let's be honest here; for most parents, their priorities simply lie in having a bigger house, or a better car rather than in structuring their family budget to accommodate tuition costs. Parents will save money for their kid's college fund, but neglect making an investment in a primary and secondary education that will not only be academically superior to that in most public schools, but will provide a strong foundation in Christianity, discipline, morality and self-responsibility.

As one of seven (yes, seven) siblings, my parents made countless sacrifices to send all of us to Catholic grade school. My dad, a roofer, even re-tarred the school roof one year to work off our tuition bill. When the time came for high school, all of us babysat, did service work, and had part-time jobs to pay our own tuition. Sure it was a drag at the time, but today I value the education I received as worth so much more than what fun I may have had goofing off after school like my classmates.

This sort of discipline and sacrifice is simply out of the question in the minds of today's Catholic parents.

Most of my Catholic friends also are products of a Catholic education, but only one of them is sending his kids to Catholic schools.

The absolute resignation to the secular and hyper-politically correct atmosphere in public schools as being the equivalent value to Catholic schools seems to me to be pure rationalization for parents who don't want to make any sacrifices in their own materialism and wants.

There are some parents who just don't care that their kids go to public school even if that means Christmas concerts will only contain meaningless "holiday songs;" middle school and high school kids will be able to get free condoms from the school nurse, no questions asked; and kids won't ever be able to utter the "Our Father" or any other prayer at a school function.

Somewhere in the last 15 years we've dropped the ball. Parents, parishes, the diocese have all dropped the ball; and our Catholic schools are dwindling.

There are some Catholic schools that don't live up to the standards, and not every child in a Catholic school will thrive, but in most Catholic schools, your child will receive not only academic excellence but will be surrounded by Catholic Christian values that develop their hearts and souls as well as minds.

So, what does the future hold? Well, Catholic school enrollment will continue to decline, and the number of Catholic schools will continue to dwindle, unless we as Catholics pick up the ball again…and run with it.

(Roe, a member of St. Augustine Parish, Milwaukee, is the mother of two preschool age children.)

[This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Catholic Herald on February 26, 2004.]