The renaissance of the Catholic school

Insight on the News, March 28, 1994 by Stephen Goode

Many of the 240 students at St. Augustine Catholic School, an elementary school in northwest Washington, come from poor families. Some of the students have been physically abused, and some have lost one or both parents to AIDS. Despite these obstacles, about 95 percent have gone on to graduate from high school, compared with a city-schools statistic 10 to 15 percent lower. "We have students who become physicians or attorneys, and [we have] housewives who tell me they plan to be mothers of Ph.D.s," says principal Adela Acosta.

Ten blocks away, up the street from the Capitol, Gonzaga College High School has educated political luminaries such as Patrick Buchanan and William Bennett. Gonzaga's 740 students come from families all over the metropolitan area -- rich, middle class and poor -- but more than 95 percent of its graduates go on to college -- many to prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale and Duke.

Although different in the two schools share an important feature -- Catholicism. Their religious affiliation may account for a large part of their success. "Catholic schools are doing something right," says Sister Catherine McNamee, president of the National Catholic Educational Association. St. Augustine's success in educating inner-city youths is repeated all over the United States, and enrollment in Catholic schools is up even though many are struggling financially and often cannot match the computer and sports facilities found in public schools. But this constraint may be the strength of Catholic education. Because Catholic schools cannot afford elaborate science programs and extensive extracurricular activities, they concentrate on the basics, particularly reading and math. In addition, Catholic schools don't have the money to hire administrators, so they lack the sometimes cumbersome bureaucracies that have robbed many public schools of money and flexibility.

But it may be Catholicism itself -- or rather, the willingness to place religion and ethics at the top of the agenda -- that has made parochial schools attractive alternatives to their public counterparts. "We are Catholic, and that fact provides us no embarrassment," says the Rev. William Davis, representative for Catholic schools and federal assistance for the United States Catholic Conference. The very raison detre of Catholic schools, say the educators, is to teach religion and instill values, including respect, obedience and self-denial. In addition, Catholic students are exposed to more intangible qualities such as a sharpened sense of community made possible by the small size of most parochial schools and their connection to a parish church, where parents worship together and their children make friends.

On the whole, parochial-school students find themselves in what many regard as a more rigorous educational environment, one that somehow manages to control problems -- violence, drugs and dysfunctional families -- that plague the nation's public schools.

"It's not that every Catholic school is better than every public school," says John J. Convey, chairman of the department of education at the Catholic University of America. However, based on studies such as the National Assessment of Education Progress, "there is evidence of the better performance on achievement tests of Catholic-school students, compared with public-school students," Convey concludes in his 1992 book, Catholic Schools Make a Difference. "In addition, compared with public schools, Catholic schools have lower dropout rates, higher rates of college attendance and higher rates of completing college for those students who enter college"

Such claims, first advanced more than a decade ago by University of Chicago sociologist James S. Coleman in his book, High School Achievement, are controversial, to say the least. Bella Rosenberg, assistant to the president at the American Federation of Teachers, says that parochial and public schools can't be compared for the simple reason that Catholic schools educate only 6 percent of the nation's students, while public schools must account for 40 million students a year.

"Judging Catholic schools as successes is like judging a doctor who only takes patients who aren't sick," says Rosenberg. "Of course he's going to come out good." Catholic schools can expel students, notes Rosenberg, but public schools must follow due process. More importantly, parents of Catholic-school students are far more likely to be college educated than are the parents of public-school students.

Catholic schools undoubtedly benefit from such advantages, but their teachers maintain that they face the same problems as public-school teachers. St. Augustine's Acosta acknowledges that many parents "leave their kids with us and expect us to do all the work." Patrick Kelly, principal of St. Angela Merici Elementary School in New York's South Bronx, expects as few as 15 parents -- never more than 50 -- to show up at parent-teacher meetings, although more than 500 students are enrolled in his school.