February 5, 2007VOL. 45, NO. 3Oakland, CA

Report urges change in Catholic schools

By Catholic News Service\

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- For today’s Catholic schools to thrive, school officials must rethink traditional ways of operating and try innovative approaches, said a report highlighting the current challenges facing Catholic schools.

The report also calls on the Catholic community at large to play a key role in restoring its schools.

The 32-page report was prepared by the University of Notre Dame Task Force on Catholic Education. It points out how enrollment has declined from more than 5 million students 40 years ago to half that number today even as the Catholic population has grown.

It also notes low salaries for teachers at Catholic schools along with rising costs and tuition, demographic shifts, the changing role of religion in the lives of American Catholics and increasing options for educational choices.

But “Catholic schools matter more now than ever, and they work, as study after study demonstrates,” it said.

The report states at the outset that “Catholic schools can and must be strong in our nation’s third century.”

Its authors also stipulate that “extraordinary chapters lie ahead” if the Catholic community at large is willing to pitch in and help.

It also challenges Catholic schools to find ways to welcome Hispanic students, noting that only three percent of Latino families send their children to Catholic schools even though the number of Hispanic Catholics is increasing.

“The church and its schools must find ways to serve and be engaged by the growing Latino population.”

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