Catholic education certainly has its challenges today, but the relationship between it and public education is about like when I went to school. My grade-school education at a fraction of the cost gave me a better foundation for success in public high school (later, college and grad school) than my peers who went to the public schools–this in one of the better public systems in our State.

The Catholic schools may be in trouble, but public education is essentially broken. More spending is not the solution–government schools pay 5 times the cost in REAL purchasing power (inflaction-adjusted) vs when I went to school, and delicver a sub-standard education for it.

Yes, Catholics need to mind their curricula, and their faith principles, and their pennies, but students still have a better shot for success in academics, and in life, in Catholic schools.

Just bought your book. Now I’m here telling the publisher that I’d like to see this book on Kindle. :)

The decline of Catholic education is not just due to shrinking vocations or even bad curricula. Although both of these things contribute to the problem, the real problem began the moment the parochial school systems were put together.

There is an inherent design flaw – vocations shrank and bad curricula crept in because of the original design problem. Unless and until that flaw is fixed, the schools will continue to disappear.

Given the history of America’s Catholic schools, it is safe to say America’s bishops are psychologically incapable of solving the problem.

“The biggest problem for Catholic schools is that the curriculum they use is virtually indistinguishable from that used in the government schools which results in a school culture that is indistinguishable. The first step is to make the schools “catholic.””

Right. And it does not help when ordinaries like Archbishop O’Brien (formerly of Baltimore until last year) bring in Protestant, Jewish and secular figures to advise on curriculum changes. Nothing against public or other sectarian schools, but the Church has a rich array of educational expertise to bring to the table.

Are Patrick McCloskey and Joseph Harris Catholic? Don’t they know that church donations are voluntary? Whether or not they share the faith, they too can donate.

My parish’s schools closed over the last twenty years with the elementary one closing just a few years ago. Parents were, in general, unwilling to pay the increased tuition, one even slashing the Pastor’s tires on a tuition hike about 19 years ago. One of the original schools remains as an independent Catholic High School. It’s run by the Xaverian Brothers and has been for many decades. It charges a full up private school tuition.

I saw the op-ed but ignored it. NYT’s track record on understanding Catholic issues is very shallow. Does Christopher White find the op-ed recommended reading?

In my community, 50% of the sisters are 80 or older while about 15% of us are employed full-time (some with benefits). Religious communities do not receive direct contributions from their dioceses (which usually have little money) nor parishes.

In most religious communities, many of the elderly sisters qualify for Medicaid because of decades of teaching (or nursing) without receiving a living wage or health care coverage.

It would be great to have more sisters teaching in schools — but we have as many dependents to feed and care for as any family. We need to receive a living wage and standard benefits like any other person employed by the school.

I teach full-time in Catholic higher education. My income supports the five sisters who are in formation and the dozens who are over 80. Please do not suggest that I should be paid less than my colleagues (usually dual-income families) who only have 2 or 3 dependents. We do the same work in God’s service, and so should bring home the same pay.