In the wake of the Archdiocese of New York recently closing 27 of its
schools, conversation on the sharp decline of Catholic school
enrollment has once again been ignited.
One education expert says a
weakening of Catholic identity is a primary factor in the school
closures.
Dr. John J. Convey, who holds the title of the St. Elizabeth Ann
Seton Professor of Education at the Catholic University of America in
Washington, D.C., also explained that a lack of school-aged children and
waning pastoral leadership have also significantly contributed to
school closures.
The Archdiocese of New York announced Jan. 11 that after careful
consideration, it will close 27 of its Catholic schools due to steadily
declining enrollment.
The move will save the archdiocese $10 million a year.
The New York archdiocese, which is home to 2.5 million parishioners,
will continue to spend $13 million annually to sustain its remaining 189
Catholic schools.
The archdiocese released a statement on its website, saying that the
closures of 26 elementary schools and one high school will affect 3,700
students.
Thirteen of the schools to be shut down are in New York City
and others are in counties north of the area.
With its recent closures, the archdiocese has added to an ominous and
growing trend of declining student enrollment in Catholic schools
across the U.S.
Enrollment in Catholic elementary schools has dropped 15 percent
nationwide since 2001-02 school year, reported the National Catholic
Educational Association. In 2006 and 2007 in the U.S., 212 Catholic
schools were closed or consolidated.
In a Jan. 17 e-mail, Dr. Convey, who co-authored the 2009 book
“Weathering the Storm: Moving Catholic Schools Forward,” weighed in,
saying that numerous factors have contributed to enrollment decline.
He noted that dwindling demographics, what he called an “insufficient
number of school-age children,” is a large underlying problem.
The National Center for Health Statistics reported last August that
the steadily falling birth rate in the U.S. fell 2.7 percent in 2009, an
all time low in the last 100 years.
Dr. Convey also said that “weak leadership” on the part of the
principal or the pastor, including the “unwillingness of the pastor to
support the school or to promote it to the parish” as another factor.
“This problem is exacerbated if diocesan leadership is not strong or
is unwilling to act to rectify the leadership problem,” he added.
Perhaps most disconcerting, Dr. Convey cited a “weak Catholic
identity” on the part of Catholic schools either based in actual fact or
simply perceived as such by parents.
He said that many families today believe that a Catholic school is
not strong enough in the “value-added” component that would make it
different from a public or charter school.
The education expert added that families without sufficient income to
afford tuition can be a problem which is “exacerbated if adequate
tuition assistance is not available.”
“In some cases, money is an issue; families can't afford the tuition
and insufficient tuition assistance is available to help them. In other
cases, parents are unwilling to pay for a Catholic school if they
perceive that the public schools, charter schools or other private
schools in their area are adequate.”
Dr. Convey also noted that accusations of sex abuse by clergy have
“had an impact on diocesan budgets from huge legal settlements.”
Lastly, he said parents often “don’t sufficiently value Catholic
education” and would rather “have their children educated in the public
school even though they could afford to send them to a Catholic school.”
Dr. Convey explained that in order to combat plummeting school
enrollment, the “Church and each individual Catholic school needs to be
more vocal about the importance of the schools and their effectiveness
in both the academic and religious formation of the students.”
He added that public relations and marketing along with effective
leadership at both the local and diocesan levels are “essential for
renewing interest in Catholic schools.”
“Locally,” he emphasized, “leadership rests in the principal, the
pastor, the school board, and the faculty. The attitude and support of
the pastor is especially important in that he signals to the entire
community about whether the school is an important mission of that
parish and the Church.”
In an article for America Magazine on Sept. 13 last year, Archbishop
Timothy M. Dolan of New York noted many of Dr. Convey's same concerns on
the decline in Catholic school enrollment.
He underscored the documented benefits of a Catholic education for
students, such as better test scores, deeper spirituals lives and
greater community involvement. He then called it the “ecclesial duty” of
all American Catholics to increase the number of students in Catholic
schools today.
Archbishop Dolan said that to “re-grow” the Catholic school system,
“today’s efforts need to be rooted in the long-term financial security
that comes from institutional commitment through endowments, foundations
and stable funding sources and also from every parish supporting a
Catholic school, even if it is not 'their own.'”
“Strong Catholic schools strengthen all other programs of
evangelization, service, catechesis and sanctification,” he wrote.
“The
entire church suffers when Catholic schools disappear.”
SIC: CNA/INT'L