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Timothy Michael DolanSeptember 19, 2014
Cardinal Dolan celebrated Mass and visited classrooms during his tour of Saint Francis Xavier School in the Bronx in Oct. 2013.

Like almost every other diocese in the United States, the Archdiocese of New York is undergoing a serious and daring refashioning of our beloved Catholic elementary schools. Since 1727, when the Ursuline Sisters of New Orleans opened the first Catholic grade school in what would become the United States of America, our schools have never had an easy time. Even during the 1950s, an era now considered their heyday, only 50 percent of our Catholic children were enrolled in our schools, and the cost, energy and sacrifice demanded to keep them going has always been staggering.

The past 45 years have presented particularly pointed challenges, as the numbers of religious women and men who formerly taught and administered in our schools have drastically diminished, costs of education have skyrocketed, competition has become more vigorous, the support for our schools among the wider culture has been severely diluted, and our own passion for supporting them has sometimes flagged.

We as a church are charged with keeping our schools excellent in education, effective in evangelization and catechesis, and affordable to all. Five years ago, the Archdiocese of New York embarked upon a fresh plan to meet these goals. The initiative is called Pathways to Excellence and, although still in development, it is already giving hope and confidence to our parents, educators, clergy, students and the wider community. The strategy is based on three non-negotiable principles, each giving rise to practical implementation.

Catholic schools are, indeed, “a pearl of great price.” This belief is bolstered by sound data and held firm by our parents, alumni and students. Our schools are singularly effective in educating our children and passing on our cherished values, and are worth all the trouble, sacrifice and energy they require. The question raised in the late 1960s—Why Catholic schools?—which, sadly, was taken up by some circles of prominence in the church, has been decisively answered: because they work! Our alumni and supporters know this in their gut, and the scholarly data backs them up.

It often seems as if people outside the Catholic community recognize the priceless value of our schools more than we do, as journals, pundits, scholars and newspapers rarely known for their sympathy to Catholic causes trumpet the indisputable effectiveness of our schools and beg us not to give up. Just ask the hundreds of parents of our inner-city children eagerly awaiting a scholarship from the renowned Inner City Scholarship Fund so championed by my predecessor, Cardinal Edward Egan, if Catholic schools work! As a prominent Jewish benefactor of our schools often chides me, “Nobody does it better than your schools! For God’s sake, quit closing them!”

Yet realism demands that we admit that our schools cause headaches, heartburn and sweat and absorb every dollar we can scrape up. Honesty also insists that we quit foolishly asking if they are worth it and confidently thunder: You bet they are!

We cannot do business as usual. In the Archdiocese of New York, we had to admit that we had too many schools—all of them very good, mind you, but just too many. The archdiocese was spending a bundle of money to keep open half-filled schools in buildings costly to maintain, thus consuming resources better used to strengthen other schools and offer more scholarships. Rather than have two struggling schools blocks apart, the reasoning went, we could have one solid, full, stable school.

As our superintendent of schools, Dr. Timothy McNiff, observed, “If we don’t close some, we’ll end up eventually closing all of them.” Besides, he reasoned, we can make the tough decisions on which ones should close—trusting in a great deal of study and consultation—and get it over with, so we could assure our parents that, at least for the foreseeable future, there would be no more closings.

Sure, it was painful, as, over two years, 60 of our schools closed. Our main consideration was that all of our children would have a nearby school ready to welcome them. Our school office offered energetic assistance so that nearly two-thirds of the students in the closed schools were able to attend another one nearby.

The result? We now have fewer schools—still a good number at 170—but they are in better facilities with larger enrollments and the choicest principals and teachers. And we do not anticipate a need for any large-scale closings in the near future.

In addition, parishes that used to have their own parochial school on their property but that were closed in the recent process, now find themselves with fresh revenue, especially if they can rent, lease or sell the former school building. In justice, our plan concludes, a part of that new revenue—we settled on half—must be given to the archdiocese to help our ever-necessary investment in and subsidy of our schools. All then share in the bonus.

Our schools now belong to everybody. Not only are our schools Catholic in values and atmosphere, but we made our schools catholic, with a small c. This meant a very dramatic decision: the days of one parish supporting its own parochial school were mostly over. Is it practical, our board of consultants asked, to expect that one pastor and parish could any longer support their own school all alone? I, for one, mourn this realistic admission, as the parochial school model was an example of subsidiarity and grass-roots attitudes at their best. True, we still have about 40 classic parochial schools. But now, for the most part, our schools are regional, belonging to all the parishes in a given area, whether the school is on their property or not. As one of our savvy pastors remarked, “It’s as if we’re finally implementing the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, which decreed in 1884 that every parish was to have a school.”

In the Archdiocese of New York, all parishes support Catholic education. Pastors and the lay faithful in a region comprise school governing boards. This governing model was first introduced by my predecessor, Cardinal Egan, for the effective management of our Catholic high schools. After the success we realized for our high schools, it also made sense to move in this direction with our elementary schools. These boards oversee shared resources among the schools of the region in maintenance, facilities, budgets, payroll and, very importantly, enhanced fundraising, recruitment and marketing. The priests and principals report a welcome freedom in no longer having to mess with the boilers and snow removal. This leaves more time for priests to focus on pastoral duties, with their presence in the schools now concentrating on the sacraments and catechesis, and gives principals more time to focus on instructional leadership.

I do not want to give the impression that it all is rosy now here in New York. We still have challenges and snarls to work out. But as we enter our second year of this fresh strategy, enrollment is up, religion scores are up and test scores are on the rise. Last June, for the first time in memory, not a single grade school closed in the archdiocese. The pastors and their parishioners are cooperating and paying their freight, with parishioners proud that their parish now has a school to claim as its own. The pastors and their people have dug deep to pay their share of “their” school, even if it is not on their parish grounds. And, they reason, if the parish is helping support a nearby regional school they should encourage parents to send their children there.

Best of all, there is a renewed sense of confidence. As one parent commented, “It used to seem we were in a ‘hospice mode’ regarding our schools, thinking that they’re dying, and our job was to postpone their passing as long as we could and make their death as painless as possible.” No more: We trumpet that our schools are well worth fighting for, but admit that we can no longer do business as usual and that it is time to make them catholic, not only in character but in ownership by every parish.

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ROBERT Reinhart
10 years 2 months ago
I think Cardinal Dolan might be consoled by a more precise application of subsidiarity. I don't think the principle is "move the decision to the smallest unit" as insisted by some Catholic libertarians. "Lowest level that can be effective" is a better rule of thumb. We don't let small children decide when to go to bed. If the archdiocesan schools had lost the ability to be effective, a higher level needs to create an environment that sustains education. Cardinal Dolan's witness is precisely that, as I read it.
Carrie Ro
10 years 2 months ago
I am shocked that this article didn't talk about inclusion. Inclusion is what can drive Catholic education into the 21st century. It helps ALL kids & research is now showing test scores going up for typical children & those with disabilities. Not to mention, inclusion creates compassionate & accepting students & is cost effective!!
Kristen Hoffmaster
10 years 2 months ago
It is wonderful to be speaking about inclusion here and serving the needs of all Catholics. If we can implement IDEA (individuals with disabilities education act) effectively in our Catholic Schools, this can serve as a model for faith formation and RCIA as well. We must look to exemplary classrooms in the public school system as well as lab schools and university sponsored private schools that are on the cutting edge of implementing high standards and new teaching techniques to effectively reach students with a variety of unique abilities. We must go beyond what works typically for a child with a given label and sponsor our principals, teachers, and staff in learning a wide range of techniques so that they can be properly equipped to meet the needs of individuals with unique abilities. Professional development with hands on practice guided by experts in the fields of autism, learning disabilities, etc is not only needed but desired by teachers and parents seeking to meet the needs of students with differences. Back up staff and support for behavioral pull outs and on site experts in a wide variety of specialties is also needed in Catholic schools just as it is needed in the public sector. What a great model this could become for cooperative lay and pastoral action to meet the educational and spiritual needs of a diverse body of students.
Sharon Valente
10 years 2 months ago
Archbishop Dolan, I appreciate your observations and comments. When you noted that "our schools now belong to everybody," what does that mean for inclusion for those with mild to moderate disabilities? It pains me to give one son the benefit of a Catholic education (10th grade, Mary Star High School, Los Angeles) when I cannot do the same for my other son who attends the local public school for 6th grade. I know this issue is bigger than one archdiocese but it would be greatly appreciated if we could get the conversation started. With training and resources, it is possible. Sincerely, Dr. Sharon Valente Associate Provost Marymount California University
michelle tetschner
10 years 2 months ago
I am so glad that change is occurring. I too agree that Catholic schools are worth fighting for! I am proud to say that both of my older sons attended Catholic school here in AZ. It is also heartbreaking for my husband and I, that our youngest son with Down Syndrome was not welcomed into that same Catholic school, and will not continue that same family tradition of Catholic School. Many public schools and districts are down adapting a policy of NO Spec Ed rooms~ and including ALL children into the Gen Ed classrooms. It is heartbreaking that the Catholic church can not see ALL of the abilities of ALL children and move in this directions also~ and open their hearts ~ to the least of us... I am hoping you will lend your voice to this "wave" of Inclusion that is happening to many diocese across the country?
Mike Evans
10 years 1 month ago
Actions seem to have come a little late, given the need to close some 60 operating schools. Shifting the burden of school budget support to all parishes is one way to even out the load. But it remains hard to develop loyalty to St. John's elementary when you are located in St. Mary's with the leaky roof and barely working boiler. The facts are that our schools were built and expanded greatly when we benefited from the almost free labor of religious sisters and brothers. When such minimal cost religious staffing became scarce and real wages started, the cost of tuition rose dramatically. It was easy to fill a Catholic grade school when tuition was $25 a month. Now that it is $500 a month, not so much.
Mary Weis
10 years 1 month ago
We need a Mother Teresa for the Catholic School System. I hope the teaching of our Faith will be the priority, so we do not have so many confused Catholics in the future and so that we can ensure the Catholic education system will flourish and grow, and be set apart from while being in, the world.
Bob Baker
10 years 1 month ago
Most Catholic teachers are degreed, have attended a teaching program and many go on to obtain a master’s degree, usually at great expense which dioceses usually do not reimburse. A survey conducted a few years ago found that nearly 25% of the teachers who left Catholic school positions in the U.S. went to public schools. Considering that some 30% of the Catholic schools nationwide do not also have tangible benefits, such as medical and dental insurance, it hardly surprising that so many teachers leave. Catholic schools have been great training grounds for public schools and they are more than willing to take advantage of this fact by providing better pay and benefits, as well as a degree of protection from arbitrary rules and At-Will contracts for teachers that are already experienced in the classroom. The situation is worse for students with disabilities. This requires additional training by teachers. Those who do obtain this training know they will be paid a lot more in public schools, too.

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