Catholic Schools, Charter Schools, and Urban Neighborhoods (original) (raw)
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Catholic Schools, Urban Neighborhoods, and Education Reform
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
This Article explores the implications of a dramatic shift in the American educational landscape-the rapid disappearance of Catholic schools from urban neighborhoods. Primarily because of their strong track record of educating disadvantaged children, these school closures are a source of significant concern in education policy circles. While we are inclined to agree that Catholic school closures contribute to a broader educational crisis, this Article does not address well-rehearsed debates about educational outcomes. Rather than focusing on the work done inside the schools, we focus on what goes on outside them. Specifically, using three decades of data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, we seek to understand what a Catholic school means to an urban neighborhood. Our study suggests Catholic elementary schools are important generators of neighborhood social capital: We find that neighborhood social cohesion decreases and disorder increases following an ele-@ 2010 Margaret F. Brinig & Nicole Stelle Garnett. Individuals and nonprofit institutions may reproduce and distribute copies of this Article in any format, at or below cost, for educational purposes, so long as each copy identifies the author, provides a citation to the Notre Dame Law Review, and includes this provision and copyright notice. * Fritz Duda Family Chair in Law, Notre Dame Law School.
Are Charters Enough Choice? School Choice and the Future of Catholic Schools
Notre Dame Law Review, 2012
@ 2012 Nicole Stelle Garnett. Individuals and nonprofit institutions may reproduce and distribute copies of this Article in any format, at or below cost, for educational purposes, so long as each copy identifies the author, provides a citation to the Notre Dame Law Review, and includes this provision in the copyright notice. * Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School. I am indebted to Ken Ogorek and Connie Zittnan of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis for their insights on the charter school conversions discussed here, to Margaret Brinig, my co-author on the school closure research discussed herein, for empirical support, and to Richard Garnett and Peter Schuck for helpful suggestions about this essay. I also received valuable input at the Notre Dame Law Review symposium on "Law and Educational Innovation." Kathleen Brogan, Alison Curran, and Brian Mahoney provided excellent research assistance. Mistakes are my own. 1 Anthony of Padua was canonized in 1232, less than a year after his death, and named a "Doctor of the Church" in 1946. St. Anthony of Padua Doctor of the Church, CATHOLIC ONLINE, http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint-id=24 (last visited Mar. 9, 2012).
In the past 50 years, the share of students enrolled in U.S. Catholic schools has declined from approximately 12% to 3%. In reaction, many urban Catholic schools have closed and subsequently reopened as public charter schools in order to receive governmental funding and to increase enrollment. As public schools, these Catholic-affiliated charter schools now face a complex set of legal and practical challenges. This article presents empirical research on Catholic-affiliated charter schools, and the legal issues facing them as well as the wider category of religiously-affiliated charter schools. The authors conclude by answering a number of questions that Catholic school leaders are likely to pose about this emerging trend in Catholic education.
Lost classroom, lost community: Catholic schools' importance in urban America
Choice Reviews Online, 2014
continues a line of scholarly work that calls attention to the invaluable effects of Catholic schools in the United States, in light of Catholic school closures and the rise of charter schools. It is unique in that it underlines the role of Catholic schools as institutions that contribute to the stability and health of the broader community in which they are located. Catholic schools make this contribution, the authors argue, through the generation of social capital, or "networks that make urban neighborhoods function smoothly" (p. 113). The authors build on research about the educational benefits of social capital within a school (Bryk, Lee, & Holland, 1992), and the benefit for schools of social capital in the surrounding neighbourhood (Coleman, 1988), to propose that the social capital generated by Catholic schools extends well beyond the walls of the classroom. The authors highlight a statistically significant relationship between Catholic school closures and crime rates, drawing from survey data collected by the Project on Human Development in Chicago, Illinois, and neighbourhood police beat data. Between 1999 and 2005, Chicago experienced a significant decrease in crime, but the decrease was more pronounced in those neighbourhoods with open Catholic schools. Brinig and Garnett were able to successfully replicate their study in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. However, they could not establish a similar pattern in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, California, where very few Catholic schools have been closed. An open Catholic school there does not appear to affect crime rates. Los Angeles is unique because its Catholic schools were systematically established between 1948 and 1970 in a centralized manner to provide space for the tens of thousands of children who were annually denied entrance. As a result, the authors suggest that the impact of Catholic schools on crime is more evident in dense urban neighbourhoods and in neighbourhoods where schools emerged amid unplanned urban development, like Chicago and Philadelphia. Brinig and Garnett understand and do not equivocate on the limitations of their statistical analysis. They acknowledge the lack of uniformity in results, possible discrepancies related to limited and/or skewed statistical data, and the strong correlation of demographic and economic variables (such as a rise in poverty, escalation of the minority population, or overall decline in population) with social stability in a cityscape. Despite these limitations, the authors strive to isolate the effects of more pertinent factors to ascertain the value created by open Catholic schools in a community. While this weakens the strength of their findings, making it impossible
The Promise of Catholic Schools for Educating the Future of Los Angeles
Catholic Education a Journal of Inquiry and Practice, 2010
This study examined the impact of Catholic education on elementary and secondary students in Los Angeles. The study focused on the continuation and graduation rates of ethnic minority students who received special funding from the Catholic Education Foundation (CEF). Using qualitative and quantitative measures, the study revealed that students from ethnic minority and low-income communities enrolled in Catholic schools are graduating from secondary schools at a higher rate than their peers who are enrolled in public schools. Furthermore, survey data were collected from principals and parents of these students enrolled in Catholic schools. The study shows that a Catholic education has a major impact on the lives of these students, their parents, and their communities. E ver since the 1983 publication of A Nation at Risk from the National Commission on Excellence in Education, educators have been concerned about the quality of our schools. Particular concern has focused on the school experience of ethnic minorities and students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds who do not succeed at school in alarming numbers. In large urban areas such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, there is special concern because these major regions are majority ethnic minority and the future viability of our major cities depends on the ability of Latino, African American, and low SES students to receive a quality education. Without such an education, the future generation of our major cities will not be prepared to function as part of an educated citizenry or in the workforce. Thus, during the past 30 years there have been numerous reform efforts in public and private education focused on closing the achievement gap and documenting best practices in urban education. Some of these efforts have focused on the unique ability of Catholic schools to provide a quality education for ethnic minorities and students from low SES backgrounds, often at much less cost than public schools.
School Choice and the Branding of Catholic Schools
Education Finance and Policy, 2011
Widespread disappointment with the outcomes of many public school districts in the U.S. has led to a litany of reform proposals and public discourse on how best to improve the performance of our nation's public schools. One broad category of proposals includes school choice policies designed to reduce the monopoly power of local public schools and make them more responsive to the educational preferences of the parents and pupils they serve. Milton supported public funding for education where parents are able to choose among several schools for their children to attend. A subset of the school choice policies includes tuition vouchers which cover part or all of the private school tuition costs incurred by participants. Tuition vouchers enhance competition by making private schools a viable option for students who would not be able to attend them without the voucher. When faced with increased alternatives, public schools should, in theory, compete by better meeting the needs of parents and students in order to maintain enrollment and public funding. The exact degree to which public schools respond to competition is an unresolved empirical question, but many researchers have found evidence that public schools do alter their performance when faced with competition from private schools or other public schools .
The Effects of Catholic Schools on Religiosity, Education, and Competition
Four criteria that have been suggested to evaluate the effects of private schooling and education vouchers are: (1) freedom of choice, (2) productive efficiency, (3) equity, and (4) social cohesion. This study uses these criteria to evaluate some of the effects of Catholic schooling in the United States. Catholic schools are shown to increase the ability of Catholic families to promote Catholic values and beliefs. That is, Catholic schools increase the ability of Catholic families to provide a faith-based education for their children. The effect of Catholic schools on productive efficiency is mixed. Data from Illinois suggest that private school competition does not improve the quality of public schooling. Further, national data indicate that Catholic schools at best only have modest positive effects on educational outcomes for white students. However, Catholic schools seem to have significant and substantial positive effects on educational outcomes for black and Hispanic students. ...
The Effects of Catholic Schools on Religiosity, Education, and Competition. Occasional Paper
2001
Four criteria that have been suggested to evaluate the effects of private schooling and education vouchers are: (1) freedom of choice, (2) productive efficiency, (3) equity, and (4) social cohesion. This study uses these criteria to evaluate some of the effects of Catholic schooling in the United States. Catholic schools are shown to increase the ability of Catholic families to promote Catholic values and beliefs. That is, Catholic schools increase the ability of Catholic families to provide a faith-based education for their children. The effect of Catholic schools on productive efficiency is mixed. Data from Illinois suggest that private school competition does not improve the quality of public schooling. Further, national data indicate that Catholic schools at best only have modest positive effects on educational outcomes for white students. However, Catholic schools seem to have significant and substantial positive effects on educational outcomes for black and Hispanic students. For this reason, Catholic schools have favorable effects on equity.