Taking ‘Catholic’ Out of Catholic School

AMERICAN schoolchildren ought to have access to a quality education in a safe and nurturing environment — yet too many children are consigned by geography to public schools that are anything but safe and nurturing. That’s where Catholic schools come in. It’s at these schools that many underprivileged and minority children get a great start in life, and their parents the satisfaction of knowing they are in the best of hands. Yet a group of attorneys and activists wants the state to prevent Catholic schools from creating this environment.

These schools show amazing results, and at a fraction of the cost of a public-school education. Here are some numbers:

Ninety-nine percent of students who attend Catholic high school graduate. Of those, 86 percent attend four-year colleges.

Minorities account for 19.8 percent of the Catholic school population.

Catholic schools provide over $24 billion a year in savings for the nation.

The mean cost per pupil at Catholic schools is $5,847. The national per-pupil average is $12,054.

Even with all the quantifiable good that they do, Catholic schools are under constant attack.

A case in point is in New York, where a Catholic elementary school, St. Anthony, is being sued for something that is its right under US law: to choose a principal who will in fact promote the Church’s teachings — something that parents both desire and expect.

It is the Christian values lived and taught in the schools that create the peaceful, respectful and nurturing atmosphere that is the envy of public schools — sometimes located in the very same neighborhoods.

I thought about all this while watching the children at my parish school lined up outside in neat rows for morning prayers.

Mrs. Rivera, the principal, led a series of prayers, and then a child from each grade read an individual prayer for a special intention (a child sick with cancer, a father away at war) while the rest prayed silently. Finally, they all turned to the flag and re- cited the Pledge of Allegiance with hands over their hearts. They do this every single morning. Children in Catholic schools flourish because of these practices, which direct the mind and heart of each child toward the goal of the day: to love God and each other and put selfish considerations last. And during the rest of the day — in every class, not just religion class — Christian ideals are woven into the curriculum.

Whether science or social studies, the teachers refer back to the main project: forming excellent men and women — loyal, unselfish, full of kindness, incapable of treachery or dishonesty, gracious and loving to everyone.

The lawyers pressing the suit in Upstate New York don’t believe in our great project. They believe that, as the plaintiffs state in a court brief, “organized religion and religious dogma are dangerous to a society, and what society needs is enlightened rationality.”

This is not only an insult to millions of children and parents benefiting from and greatly pleased with Catholic education; it’s something that has already been litigated and denied. Just five years ago the Supreme Court protected a Lutheran school’s right to choose their teachers.

A principal has an even more important role — as a supervisor of all the teachers — and a religious school has the right to choose without interference who will fill these roles.

Some of the most valuable elements of a free society are its strong and independent institutions — schools, voluntary civic associations, churches. In the case of Catholic schools, they add value to all attending students, who learn not only dry facts and figures but also the virtues that will help them make a success of their lives.

St. Anthony School has a right to choose a principal it believes will best impart the institution’s Catholic teaching, because just as children have a right to go to a great school, great schools have a right to go on doing what makes them great.

Dr. Grazie Pozo Christie specializes in radiology in the Miami area and serves on the advisory board for The Catholic Association.