Skeptical about a new Catholic high school

Reading that the Archdiocese of Baltimore is planning to build a new school in West Baltimore (“Archdiocese of Baltimore plans to build first new Catholic high school in city in more than 50 years,” April 30) raised several questions for me. Archdiocese spokesman Sean Caine is quoted as saying, “If there is a wayoutofpoverty andhopelessness and joblessness, education has to be a major part of that conversation.”

While I agree with the importance of education and applaud all efforts to educate children, I must note that the archdiocese has been silent about the under-funding of public schools in Baltimore City that has gone on for years. If the church wants to be "all in," it will join advocates for needed educational reform and full funding in Baltimore and statewide. Such action would benefit the 800,000 or so students in Maryland public schools, many of whom live in poverty. Instead, the Catholic church has focused on trying to increase its piece of the pie to offer BOOST scholarships to a small number of children.

We know that the state of education in Baltimore is due, in part, to white flight that began when school segregation was outlawed. While Archbishop William E. Lori's recent pastoral letter called for a renewal of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s principles of nonviolence, I have not heard him exhort all Catholics to be mindful of the dire conditions in parts of Baltimore and to accept responsibility by being willing to pay higher taxes so all children could have equal opportunities to succeed.