The Changing Role of Catholic Education In Urban America and its Impact on the Public School System

The Catholic Church has moved from understanding the importance of education in terms of teaching pagans about Christianity to educating the marginalized children of the inner cities in America with the same standards as the wealthiest neighborhoods place on their schools. Along the way, there has been tremendous growth, however, today the Church is faced with closing doors and merging schools due to the financial stresses involved in running parish schools with lay teachers rather than with the priests and nuns who taught at little or no extra cost to the parishes. Schools are now staffed with teachers who require higher salaries and benefits than their predecessors. Also, many families struggle to make ends meet and cannot afford to pay tuition costs so the Church has been forced to find other ways of financing the education of the children in its communities without increasing the parish debt.;This new wave of Catholic schools appearing in the poorest neighborhoods can be examples for public schools to follow. The graduation rates are much higher than at the public schools, the test scores are much better, and many of the students are given opportunities to actively participate in financing their education, therefore gaining self-confidence to attain the American dream.;At the same time, public schools in these cities are struggling to keep their students in school, and to make sure the children are proficient in Reading and Math when they graduate. This paper investigates two networks of schools to show how they have adapted the typical curriculum in order to guarantee academic success for students. Changes such as longer school days, longer school years, internships for students, and parent participation as well as a constant infusion of professional development for teachers have created schools where every child is expected to graduate and to gain acceptance to college. These schools follow the students long after they leave their hallways and they continue to provide advice and counseling whenever their graduates may need the help.;The schools studied in this paper are incredible success stories, but the changes made to their curriculum would be very difficult for public schools to follow if government officials and unions do not make concessions and agree to put the best interest of the children first when it comes to educational decisions. Eventually, if the children receive the same quality education no matter where they live, our economy will benefit, therefore providing better opportunities for all graduates nationwide and we will be a stronger global competitor in the work force.