Comments on: Our Precious Catholic Schools

By: J

Thu, 07 Feb 2013 20:50:43 +0000

Cardinal Dolan,

I am a practicing Catholic and very loyal to the Church. I’m also a single mother sending one daughter to Catholic school, going on 12 years. I work two jobs,
I AM EXHAUSTED!!!!! Catholic high schools in Florida are $10,000/year, not including books (yes families purchase books each semester, just like college), an iPad 2, uniforms, $450 registration fee each year (yes $450 per year to turn in paperwork), $75 yearly parking fee, $100 to join Lacrosse, etc., etc., etc.!

Full disclosure, I receive $1,500 discount due to my income, so personally I pay $8,500/year. I am most deeply grateful for this, however, my parish priest employs an administrator who threatened to take my discount away because I attend Mass 70% of the year and not 80% of the year (based on church envelopes). Does this sound pleasant? This compounds the stress and I want to pass out.

I will do everything possible to keep my daughter out of public schools, she is receiving an excellent education. However, dealing with all the bureaucratic baloney, fees, incompetent Superintendents, and rising tuition is exhausting and it takes every ounce of energy I have not let my daughter see how frustrated I am with Catholic schools.

Many kids in the K-8 schools do not go on to Catholic HS because the tuition increases by $4,500. By the time a student goes from Kindergarten through eighth grade, families are wiped out. You asked why parents don’t send their children to Catholic schools? This is why and I’m just scratching the surface.

BTW, vouchers from the state barely cover a fraction of the tuition and families are still faced with all the other charges.

Respectfully yours,

J (The exhausted, frustrated, and poor Catholic woman in Orlando.)

By: Pam

Pam — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 00:10:16 +0000

Cardinal, I am certain that many of us agree that a Catholic education is one of the best investments we can make for the future of the Church, the country, and our families. However, tuition costing $4500-$7800 per child it is almost unrealistic for a family, especially a large family, to financially provide for this expense. The other issue we personally deal with is having to transport our children 30-45 minutes (without traffic) to get to the nearest high school. So trying to get the younger ones to their school at the same time getting the older ones to their school and getting to work on time becomes rather challenging. For us it comes down to money and having to transport our children.

By: Denise LaGreca

Denise LaGreca — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 21:48:07 +0000

Just found this blog and felt a need to bring a different persopective to the problem. I sent my two sons to catholic high school although my Westchester school district is one of the best in the nation, however after two years I had no choice but to pull them out and send them to public school. The tuition was certainly not the issue, but the poor attitude of the newly installed administration was so distasteful that many parents and faculty members (including the clergy) fled from the school. When I needed to speak with the President I was simply ignored and an issue involving my child was not given even the slightess bit of consideration or kindness. I do not need to pay to be treated poorly. I wish my children had received a solid Catholic education, unfortunately, the arrogance of the administration made that impossible.

By: Karen

Karen — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 00:05:02 +0000

Catholic schools were a lot cheaper when we were younger (I graduated Catholic high school in the 70′s) because of nuns and priests. But so were houses and salaries and cars.over t Nevertheless, THEE MOST IMPORTANT thing is to teach the young, or we will have no heirs to our legacy. As it is, the young are straying away in droves. Every single parish should make it their primary goal to either support another school or have one of their own, where kids come FIRST above all else. They are the next generation of our church! No greater priority than to teach our children WELL. And no more important time to send kids to our private religious schools than TODAY, when so much of the pop culture runs contrary to our beliefs. It HAS to be a priority to keep these schools OPEN… NO “PRUNING”…. how about adding some “fertilizer”? The fundraising that was done was nothing short of MIRACULOUS and needs to be acknowledged. Give your heart over to the goal of teaching our younger Catholics WELL, in CATHOLIC SCHOOLS!

By: Raymond

Raymond — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 19:05:27 +0000

I don’t think the problem is primarily tuition. Of course, it is a factor to some extent. Catholic schools will never be able to compete with “free” public schools; unless perhaps some form of vouchers go through. It is certainly absurdly unfair that parents have to pay taxes for other childrens’ public education, but then also pay tuition for their own children at a Catholic school.

Nonetheless, my parents did it and while is wasn’t always easy for the 5 of us, they were happy to do it. This is the real thing, *People will pay for value.* The problem today is not how expensive Catholic education is, the probably is that it is not valued. My parents were willing to pay for 1. a good education and 2. a *Catholic* education complete with theological instruction (not the touchy-feely, feel good nonsense that passes for “theology” in most Catholic schools today.

The main problem today is that people don’t see Catholic schools as offering superior education and second, that people don’t recognize the value of *Catholic* education. This is because 1. what theological instruction there is tends to be highly mediocre, hence people assume (rightly) that it is a waste of time and not worthwhile. Second, in an increasingly secular society, people don’t recognize the value of religious education in general. This can be corrected in part with superior education in general and second, superior *Catholic* education. If people think they won’t get anything from a Catholic school they can’t get for free from a public school, then why pay to go to a Catholic school?

By: joseph walsh

joseph walsh — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 02:12:59 +0000

First of all, I agree with the Cardinal about the necessity of Catholic Schools. I retired from NYS public schools and returned to my catholic school (in the diocese of Scranton where we lost our Bishop Oconnor to NYC) as their Athletic Director. We served the community for students who did not fit in the local public school for one reason or another. At the same time I worked for an organization called Catholic Social Services which basically helped people. Both jobs afforded me the opportunity to give back to the church and community. My younger son followed in my footsteps and worked in the Catholic Schools of Philadelphia for a few years. Many closed including Cardinal Daugherty which at one time in the sixties was the largest Catholic school in “America (My older son worked the public schools of Philly even though he had offers elsewhere but wanted to also give back to the commuity)
Unfortunately, my alta mater was forced to close due to financial difficulties. I often wonder what has happened to our students who had trouble fitting in . what makes a Catholic school different is the same thing our church differs from others: we have rules and stick to them. I would be more than willing to contribute to Catholic Schools of NYC as I do to the Philly schools.

By: Bill

Bill — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 18:24:35 +0000

My Grandpa used to say, “It’s always about the money, Bill.” The annual tuition at the Catholic grade school I attended (1955-1962), was $35! The convent housed 20+ nuns. Now there are no nuns and the tuition is $6,000/year. The annual tuition at the Jesuit high school I attended (1962-1966) was $350 plus books (about $75). The high school/college building housed 150+ Jesuits. The high school now has only one Jesuit who is a non-teaching principal, and the tuition is now $14,000. You don’t need to be Einstein to figure out why Catholic schools are closing. BTW, just in case you don’t think money governs, my high school moved it’s entire school campus from the poorer part of the city, where it had been for 75 years, to its most affluent suburb. I wonder why?

By: James

James — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 13:12:56 +0000

Not a word of this article addressed tuition.

So, how does a stereotypical “large Catholic family” afford to send all of their children to Catholic school?