Page 9: Catholic Schools in Perspective, continued

Loss of Catholic Identity. If Pope John Paul II was correct in asserting that the Catholic school is "the heart of the Church," it should have astounded no one that the post-conciliar confusion in the United States would affect our schools. Catechetical experimentation, liturgical silliness, educational trendiness – all characterized many Catholic educational institutions in the late 60's and into the 70's. Placing the phenomenon in its ecclesial context makes it more understandable and even logical. Seen against the broad background of American education in general at the time, one wonders how anyone could have reasonably expected Catholic schools to be spared. Regardless of the rationale, the bottom-line still came down to the same unacceptable reality: Children and adolescents were either not receiving the Catholic Faith in all its fullness or were losing it. And all too often those most in positions to do something to help seemed powerless to turn things around or were actually committed to the downward spiral. Many good Catholic parents began to ask themselves if it made sense to spend hard-earned money to contribute to the loss of their children's faith.
Decline in the Involvement of Clergy and Religious. It is no secret that the 60's witnessed a major bail-out of Religious from Catholic schools, for two reasons: 1) They were leaving religious life, period; 2) Many congregations had decided that teaching was no longer "a meaningful ministry." Along with that, many priests, especially pastors, sensed they were losing control of the schools either to rebellious Religious or to lay people ignorant of the Catholic philosophy of education. Rather than fulfill their proper moral and canonical obligations as the principal guarantors of the Catholicity of the schools, many became fearful or disheartened and abandoned the struggle, allowing the hostile take-over to occur.
Over-reliance on “Cheap Labor.” When the full impact of the clerical and religious exodus from the schools hit, it became apparent that Catholic education in this country had survived and even thrived because of teachers and administrators who willingly and lovingly accepted subsistence salaries. Certainly one has a right to expect committed Catholic educators – clerical, religious or lay – to make financial sacrifices for the welfare of the system and the Church it sought to foster. However, not infrequently it happened that clergy and Religious were desired not in themselves but because they were cost-effective. When that was the over-riding motivation, it was justly punished by the salary increases of the past several years.
Awe and Intimidation before the Government Education Establishment. For years Catholic educators labored under the burden of a massive inferiority complex: Our facilities were often old and dilapidated; our faculties frequently were uncertified; our classes were large; our instructional programs were scarcely touched by John Dewey's reforms. Particularly in the suburbs, pastors and Catholic school teachers joined the chorus of parents expressing discontent and embarrassment over the very obvious lacks of our schools when contrasted with the public option. The battle-cry became attaining parity with the government school system – not totally bad – but surely pre-mature, superficial and unwarranted in many instances. This trend toward "professionalization" of Catholic schools was often accomplished by a secularizing trend as well, which did more to unravel the fabric of Catholic education than our former "unprofessional" state. Three decades later and much wiser, we have now learned – with astounding regularity and consistency from those in other educational settings – that we had and still have something worth all the effort. In fact, not a few public school districts look to the Catholic schools to discover how "so much can be done with so little."
Confused Parental Priorities. Not all parents opted out of Catholic schools simply because some "weren't Catholic anymore." Just as many had lost sight of the things that truly matter in the formation of a child. School swimming pools, classes of ten students, a host of elective offerings, an additional television at home, winter vacations – these things became more critical than imparting the Christian message in a holistic environment of faith. Sadly, this lack of balance was rarely challenged from the pulpit and has now become ingrained in nearly an entire generation of Catholic parents.
Decline in Church Attendance and Contributions. Seldom does anyone reflect on the fact that the fewer people who go to Sunday Mass, the less money the parish receives, and the less there is to work with in the budget. Furthermore, the fewer devout parents, the less the likelihood of their sending their children to Catholic schools. Not surprisingly, a vicious cycle is created, so that another whole generation is infected with non-practice.
Competing Parochial Programs View Schools as a “Drain.” When the unifying leadership of the pastor is lacking to state forcefully the institutional commitment to Catholic education, all kinds of contenders for center stage appear on the horizon. The problem began back in the late 50's when the school budget was separated from the rest of the parish budget, suggesting that the school was or should be an autonomous entity. With good reason, then, CCD, RCIA, CYO and the rest of the ecclesiastical alphabet soup came to regard themselves as central to parochial life while the school was deemed an extraneous burden. Until the conviction returns that nothing can replace the full Catholic education of our children will the school be seen as integral to the well-being, indeed the essence, of a Catholic parish in the United States. If that is true, then we can't argue that 300 children are "eating up" 60% of the budget, for there can be no better investment.