Catholic schools in US hit by unprecedented enrollment drop (2/8/21)

[JacksinPA]

Catholic schools in US hit by unprecedented enrollment drop

NEW YORK (AP) — Enrollment in Roman Catholic schools in the United States dropped 6.4% from the previous academic year amid the pandemic and economic stresses — the largest single-year decline in...

apnews.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Enrollment in Roman Catholic schools in the United States dropped 6.4% from the previous academic year amid the pandemic and economic stresses — the largest single-year decline in at least five decades, Catholic education officials reported Monday.

Among the factors were the closure or consolidation of more than 200 schools and the difficulty for many parents of paying tuition fees that average more than $5,000 for grades K-8 and more than $10,000 for secondary schools, according to the National Catholic Educational Association.

John Reyes, the NCEA’s executive director for operational vitality, said the pandemic has been an “accelerant” for longstanding challenges facing Catholic education.
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Having spent the bulk of my education in Catholic schools, I once admitted to a counselor that if I had a button that could destroy all Catholic schools, I would press it without a further thought. Their teaching basis in the 40s & 50s were predominantly nuns, few of whom had more than a HS education themselves. The alternative is & was lay teachers, one of whom beat me up in front of the classroom. In another school in a different state, myself & a friend volunteered to come in on Saturday to help the nun clean her classroom. She gave us something like $3 to but lunch at the local White Castle, then accused us of stealing after we gave her the change.

Nuns work for their room & board but their numbers are declining. Lay teachers, OTOH, only work for money, which adds to the church's financial woes. And with church attendance falling off because of the virus, Sunday collections are nearly non-existent.

I don't feel a bit sorry for them.

 

[Allan]

Catholic schools in US hit by unprecedented enrollment drop

NEW YORK (AP) — Enrollment in Roman Catholic schools in the United States dropped 6.4% from the previous academic year amid the pandemic and economic stresses — the largest single-year decline in...

apnews.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Enrollment in Roman Catholic schools in the United States dropped 6.4% from the previous academic year amid the pandemic and economic stresses — the largest single-year decline in at least five decades, Catholic education officials reported Monday.

Among the factors were the closure or consolidation of more than 200 schools and the difficulty for many parents of paying tuition fees that average more than $5,000 for grades K-8 and more than $10,000 for secondary schools, according to the National Catholic Educational Association.

John Reyes, the NCEA’s executive director for operational vitality, said the pandemic has been an “accelerant” for longstanding challenges facing Catholic education.
===========================================================
Having spent the bulk of my education in Catholic schools, I once admitted to a counselor that if I had a button that could destroy all Catholic schools, I would press it without a further thought. Their teaching basis in the 40s & 50s were predominantly nuns, few of whom had more than a HS education themselves. The alternative is & was lay teachers, one of whom beat me up in front of the classroom. In another school in a different state, myself & a friend volunteered to come in on Saturday to help the nun clean her classroom. She gave us something like $3 to but lunch at the local White Castle, then accused us of stealing after we gave her the change.

Nuns work for their room & board but their numbers are declining. Lay teachers, OTOH, only work for money, which adds to the church's financial woes. And with church attendance falling off because of the virus, Sunday collections are nearly non-existent.

I don't feel a bit sorry for them.

Strange that their education model from 1478 isn't working any more.

 

[dcsports]

Catholic schools in US hit by unprecedented enrollment drop

NEW YORK (AP) — Enrollment in Roman Catholic schools in the United States dropped 6.4% from the previous academic year amid the pandemic and economic stresses — the largest single-year decline in...

apnews.com

NEW YORK (AP) — Enrollment in Roman Catholic schools in the United States dropped 6.4% from the previous academic year amid the pandemic and economic stresses — the largest single-year decline in at least five decades, Catholic education officials reported Monday.

Among the factors were the closure or consolidation of more than 200 schools and the difficulty for many parents of paying tuition fees that average more than $5,000 for grades K-8 and more than $10,000 for secondary schools, according to the National Catholic Educational Association.

John Reyes, the NCEA’s executive director for operational vitality, said the pandemic has been an “accelerant” for longstanding challenges facing Catholic education.
===========================================================
Having spent the bulk of my education in Catholic schools, I once admitted to a counselor that if I had a button that could destroy all Catholic schools, I would press it without a further thought. Their teaching basis in the 40s & 50s were predominantly nuns, few of whom had more than a HS education themselves. The alternative is & was lay teachers, one of whom beat me up in front of the classroom. In another school in a different state, myself & a friend volunteered to come in on Saturday to help the nun clean her classroom. She gave us something like $3 to but lunch at the local White Castle, then accused us of stealing after we gave her the change.

Nuns work for their room & board but their numbers are declining. Lay teachers, OTOH, only work for money, which adds to the church's financial woes. And with church attendance falling off because of the virus, Sunday collections are nearly non-existent.

I don't feel a bit sorry for them.

I am sorry for your experience. However, much has changed since the 40's and 50's - in both public and private education. That isn't reflective of the Catholic School experience today. In my area, Catholic schools offer a much better, more personalized, and safer, experience than the public schools. They also offer opportunities for many children to get a private education who couldn't afford to otherwise. The schools are accredited by an outside agency, and teachers are certified. There are still a few nuns who teach, but they are either certified teachers or focus on religion classes.

This decline is likely a result of the economic downturn - people lost their jobs, or are concerned about employment. There is also a factor with the states that have lockdowns - which you see in the states impacted. Many people are not going to pay 'extra' for virtual private school.

Another factor is decline in enrollment period. Our public school district is concerned that they may have 'lost' as much as 10% of students due to people checking out with virtual classes. Students left... and never came back. This is likely to be one of the biggest impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

[Athanasius68]

In New York City, enrollment is up.
The consensus seems to be that the Catholic schools got it right in dealing with Covid.

 

[joko104]

With schools ordered closed of course enrollment radically drops. Why pay for school attendance when you have to home school?

The goal of the 24/7 bioterrorism campaign of the richest corporations and men on earth foremost has been to:

1. Establish that the United States now has a totalitarian system of government ruled over by 20,000+ absolute power dictators
2. Destroy the merchant class (middle class) because:
a.) the merchant class is the guardians of human, civil and individual rights
b.) are the economic competitors of the richest corporations and people - why WalMart could stay open and small businesses of the same products
were outlawed by dictatorial edicts
3. Destroy churches, that oppose the plutocrat's religion of consumerism

People should stop pretending that the US is a republic democracy under a constitution, bill of rights and rule of law. The United States is a corporate-fascist plutocracy for which the kleptocrats are the enforcers.

 

[dcsports]

In New York City, enrollment is up.
The consensus seems to be that the Catholic schools got it right in dealing with Covid.

In Houston, we have had a similar experience. In the spring, the archdiocese school district sent a week of school work home with students when they left for spring break. They spent spring break retooling for virtual teaching, and when the decision came down, began working with teachers. Students were told to work that packet the week after spring break, and transitioned into virtual learning the following week. Our local school districts waited, started discussions after spring break, and did a poor online learning experience after three weeks off. Similarly, the catholic schools retooled over the summer, with plans to have a hybrid model available for all students (just in case), and were able to go in person with an online option at most schools. It hasn't been perfect, but it's worked OK. The public schools couldn't decide what to do, and pushed back the start of school to figure it out. They put in a distance model for everyone - in-person students just get to do it from the classroom. No one has been happy.

I think enrollment has been down for everyone, but enrollment at some catholic schools is going up as the year has progressed.

 

[Jonsa]

Interesting. In Ontario we solved the problem of lesser quality catholic schools by publicly funding them and forcing them to accept non catholics. Students are not mandated to attend religious services, but religion is on the curriculum. My grandkids go to one since its the best in the area.
Its an uncomfortable strategy in my book, but at least the public sets the education standards for both teachers and curriculum.

 

[Athanasius68]

Interesting. In Ontario we solved the problem of lesser quality catholic schools by publicly funding them and forcing them to accept non catholics. Students are not mandated to attend religious services, but religion is on the curriculum. My grandkids go to one since its the best in the area.
Its an uncomfortable strategy in my book, but at least the public sets the education standards for both teachers and curriculum.

In the USA Catholic schools tend to be higher quality.
They also are also subject to the same educational standards of public schools.

 

[Jonsa]

In the USA Catholic schools tend to be higher quality.
They also are also subject to the same educational standards of public schools.

oh, thanks.