What's "Catholic" about Catholic Education?

This is a question that could no doubt mean many things to many different people. In fact, it might be an underlying question driving the development of a field of Catholic education. In this post, though, I'd like to consider what makes Catholic education catholic - that is, universal.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops is clear on the responsibility of the Catholic community to educate all its youth in In Support of Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools and Renewing Our Commitment to Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools in the Third Millennium:

"...Catholic schools afford the fullest and best opportunity to realize the fourfold purpose of Christian education, namely to provide an atmosphere in which the Gospel message is proclaimed, community in Christ is experienced, service to our sisters and brothers is the norm, and thanksgiving and worship of our God is cultivated."

They are also clear that it is the responsibility of the entire Catholic church to ensure that Catholic schools are available, accessible, and affordable. However, data collected by Fr. John Huber and published in the March 2007 issue of Catholic Education confirm previous assertions (Baker & Riordan, 1998, 1999; Riordan, 2000) that students currently enrolled in Catholic schools are not reflective of the demographics of the Catholic community at large. That is, there is a disproportionate number of students from high income families represented in today's Catholic schools. Further, when of parents of students currently enrolled in parochial K-8 schools who were not intending to send their children to Catholic High School were asked why not, 51.4% indicated that the tuition was too high.

This research represents only one way in which Catholic schools might not be serving all Catholic youth in the United States. Other ways to consider this issue might be to examine data by cultural or ethnic background, special education needs, or geography. What appears to be the bottom line, though, is that some Catholic schools are not "catholic" in the generic sense of the word.

What is to be done?

Huber makes several recommendations, some of which echo the common call for Catholic schools and the Catholic community to find ways for a Catholic education to be more affordable. However, Huber also identifies the need for families to prayerfully consider whether or not a Catholic High School is the right choice for their children. This recommendation underscores the emphasis of the US Conference of Bishops on the responsibility of the community (in this case, including families) to ensure that Catholic schools are available, accessible, and affordable to all students. While the cost of Catholic schools is prohibitive to many families and creative solutions to funding Catholic schools are needed (see the responses to Huber's article in Catholic Education by Jeff Boetticher), it is important to consider, as Robert Kroll does in his response to the same article, that Catholic education is a ministry of the Church.

Such consideration has implications for Catholic families (How important is it for us to send our students to Catholic schools? Of what value is it to us?) and Catholic schools alike. For their part, Catholic schools should focus on what the value of Catholic education really is. In addition to academics (which may or may not be comparable to or better than those in a local public school), what else does the Catholic school offer?

The answers to these questions beg for research, both into the motivations, needs, values and priorities of families, and into the added value of Catholic schools and the roles that they can - and do - play in developing the Church of tomorrow.