Letters: Can the Catholic Schools Be Saved?

Re "Catholic Education, in Need of Salvation" (Op-Ed, Jan. 7):

Patrick J. McCloskey and Joseph Claude Harris are of course right that finances and personnel are two troubling challenges that confront Catholic education today. But a third is the attitude of certain Catholic archbishops and cardinals who are no longer as committed as their predecessors were to educating the urban poor, be they Catholic or not.

Increasingly, the tendency has been for Catholic authorities to dedicate their resources to suburban education, where the children served are largely Catholic, effectively competing with what are often excellent public schools, and to close inner-city Catholic schools, where many of the children, though very needy, are not.

But it is not clear that such practices fully address the church's commitment to social justice, even when, as is sometimes reported, such depredations are balanced by an increase in scholarship assistance, which is often first directed to Catholic students.

Cardinal James A. Hickey of Washington was once challenged on dedicating resources to the education of poor children who were not Catholic. "We do so not because they are Catholic," he replied, "but because we are."

JOHN C. HIRSH
Washington, Jan. 7, 2013

The writer is a professor of English at Georgetown University.

To the Editor:

The article gives short shrift to the biggest reason for the decline in Catholic schools: the free labor of women disappeared after Vatican II.

Catholic religious women — the nuns — built and sustained parish schools for generations. They did so without taking a dime in salary, and the support the parishes gave the convents was often quite meager.

After Vatican II drew the veil away from the conditions of vowed women in the church, subsequent generations of Catholic women decided that we could pursue the ministry of Catholic education without being forced to live in poverty. Prior generations of nuns were saints; we may not be so saintly, but we do try to do the work of the Lord.

Paying just wages to sustain Catholic schools should be a bedrock component of the church's commitment to teach social justice through modeling fair policies for all who work in church ministries.

PATRICIA McGUIRE
Washington, Jan. 7, 2013

The writer is president of Trinity Washington University.

To the Editor:

Having taught at one of Boston's Catholic schools, I empathize with Patrick J. McCloskey and Joseph Claude Harris in their call for saving America's Catholic education system. We were a holdout from a bygone era of affordable Catholic schools geared toward working-class families, many of whom live well below the poverty line.

Catholic schools are urban education success stories, yet they are ailing. Their demise is partly a result of a church that has turned away from its core values of social justice and instead embraced conservative political activism.

Catholic schools represent the church's mission and goals at their best, and our humanitarian generation should be embracing them. It is the church's effort to fight contraception and marriage equality in opposition to evolving cultural tolerance that has turned away a generation ready to help save urban education.

CORY P. O'HAYER
Providence, R.I., Jan. 7, 2013

The writer is a master's degree candidate in urban education policy at Brown University.

To the Editor:

The educational opportunities Catholic schools offer all students are unmatched, particularly given that 65 percent of our inner-city students live at or below the poverty line.

To the writers' point, resources to subsidize schools are diminishing. But it is not true that the church has not provided enough monetary support for Catholic schools. The Archdiocese of New York has directed more than $100 million to our inner-city schools alone in just the last five years.

The "game changer" resides with school choice. The passage of A. 1826 (Education Investment Incentives Act), legislation that permits corporations and individuals to redirect their tax liability to finance private-school scholarships, is another strategy to ensure that Catholic schools will continue to serve their local communities.

Notably, 11 states have enacted this type of program, and five additional states have similar programs.

Catholic schools serve New York City students effectively. Our closed schools were not academically failing institutions. The 75,000 students in our school system deserve support from sources other than just the church and its committed benefactors.

TIMOTHY J. McNIFF
Superintendent of Schools
Archdiocese of New York
New York, Jan. 8, 2013