Of course you make a good case that a primary cause is a lack of financial support from Catholic parishioners. Yet those who have the highest stake are really the parents who send their kids to Catholic schools, not those Catholics who have their kids attend public schools from whom one can expect zero contributions. With affluent Catholic flight to the suburbs, this compounds the problem. As for vouchers, I believe this funding dollar goes direct to the parents who may then chose to use it to attend either public or parochial schools. It does not go direct to the schools and hence the fear of onerous regulations may be overstated.
“Yet those who have the highest stake are really the parents who send their kids to Catholic schools, not those Catholics who have their kids attend public schools from whom one can expect zero contributions.”
I disagree. Although my older son is in a Catholic high school, it is not an archdiocesan school, not connected to any parish, nor run nor directly supervised by the archdiocese in any way, and thus receives no subsidies from Catholics generally (except that some students receive financial aid directly from the archdiocese).
I didn’t send either of my sons to parochial Catholic elementary schools, we homeschooled. I have no direct interest, at least in terms of my own family, in the health of archdiocesan schools.
Nonetheless, I know that good Catholic schools are the most effective way of evangelizing young Catholics to keep them Catholic. And THAT is something very, very close to my heart. As well, Catholic schools consistently provide superior academic education to peer public schools.
I didn't choose parochial Catholic elementary schools for my children, yet I support these schools.
In addition, many people in our parishes no longer have school-age children. I’m not too many years from that status myself, as my younger son begins high school in the autumn. Yet, it isn’t reasonable to think that these people will have no desire to support the Catholic school systems in our dioceses. In fact, as my own sons move through high school, it’s likely that my own support of Catholic schools will increase, as I will no longer have the burdens of Catholic school tuition (although, I guess that in the mid-term, those burdens will be replaced by those of college tuition).
“With affluent Catholic flight to the suburbs, this compounds the problem.”
Three of the four schools mentioned in this article are in the Maryland suburbs. One of them is in Montgomery County, the richest county, per capita, in Maryland.
“As for vouchers, I believe this funding dollar goes direct to the parents who may then chose to use it to attend either public or parochial schools. It does not go direct to the schools and hence the fear of onerous regulations may be overstated.”
What the government gives, it can take away, and this article discusses that very thing. I thank GOD that this voucher program was as limited as it was. If it had been in use by, say, 5,000 kids, or 10,000 kids instead of less than 2,000 kids, that would have devasted the entire Catholic school system inside of Washington, DC. As it is, the loss of vouchers will likely figure in the closing of a couple more Catholic elementary schools in Washington, after a decade of significant losses.
We need to stop looking to the government for the support that we need and look within ourselves and our Catholic communities for that support.
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