---

This month's column contains the thoughts I shared with a Blue Ribbon Committee of academic, business, community leaders and pastors charged with developing a plan to revitalize the mission of Catholic education in our Diocese, titled "Covenant to Educate."

I realize that the challenge of developing a vision and strategic plan is a difficult one - especially given the changing ecclesial, social, economic and educational trends with which we are coping.

I have fond memories of my own Catholic school education under the Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Patrick's School in Troy; the Brothers of the Christian Schools at LaSalle Institute in Troy; the diocesan priests at Mater Christi Seminary in Albany and St. Joseph's in Yonkers, the seminary for the Archdiocese of New York; the Jesuits at the Gregorian University in Rome and the faculty at the School of Social Work at the Catholic University of America.

Lay faculty
Except at the School of Social Work, I had two lay teachers in those 17 years of Catholic education. Today, if there is one religious or priest on the faculty of a Catholic school, it is considered a great blessing.

The other interesting contrast I would make with Catholic schools in the 1940s and '50s of my upbringing and Catholic schools today is that, in those years, the broader culture served to reinforce the values and ideals instilled by our Catholic schools.

Today, that has changed dramatically with our society influenced so profoundly by individualism, consumerism, secularism and moral relativism.

Yet, it is precisely because of these influences that I believe Catholic school education is more needed than ever before. No matter how good a once-a-week, hour-long faith formation may be, it cannot provide the atmosphere, context and content of the immersion in a 10-month, five-day-a-week program offered by Catholic schools, where our Christian values and ideals permeate every aspect of the school's curriculum and activities.

Original plan
When our Catholic schools developed during the 19th and early 20th centuries, they were designed to provide an alternative universe to the perception, at least, of the not-so-subtly anti-Catholic environment of many public schools.

As late as the 1940s, when I attended public school in Troy from Kindergarten through third grade, the local pastor presided at school assemblies. I was made to feel uncomfortable when being excused each week for released time, and even more so when we had to recite the so-called "Protestant" version of the "Our Father."

For the most part, these elements have been eliminated from public grammar and high schools. Indeed, many of the teachers and administrators in our public schools are practicing Catholics as are the student body.

But, while Catholics and other students don't have to face prejudice and discrimination in the public schools - and while character education and civic values are promoted - the spiritual and religious dimension of students' lives cannot be addressed holistically.

Thus, I believe Catholic schools are vitally needed in our 21st century.

Factors at work
There are many factors which have contributed to the decline of Catholic school enrollment over the past 40 years.

First, the rising cost of the educational enterprise itself. In the 1940s and '50's, if you had chalk, a blackboard, textbooks and a teacher you were rigged to roll. Today, the cost of a well-rounded academic, social, technological and athletic program for students has increased a hundredfold.

Second, we no longer have available the religious sisters, brothers and priests who provided the labor pool for our Catholic schools. They basically received a stipend of room and board; now, the vast majority of our teachers and administrators are laity - and, while they are working at salaries far less than what they could command in the public sector, they must be offered at least a living wage, which is far in excess of what our religious and priests once received.

Third, there are shifting demographics. Most of our Catholic schools were built in urban neighborhoods before the flight to the suburbs in the second half of the 20th century. The number of Catholics in our Diocese has remained pretty stable, but the vast majority no longer live in the cities, but in the suburbs.

Fourth, there has been a growing decline in church attendance. In the mid-20th century, about 70 to 75 percent of our Catholic population attended Mass weekly. Today, it is between 25 and 35 percent - and that includes a much higher percentage of the 55-and-older age group.

So, for many contemporary parents, the value of a Catholic education is not perceived as important as it was in previous times.

In addition, Catholic education is no longer virtually a free education, as it was in my youth. My parents paid no tuition for grammar school, $150 a year for my high school education at LaSalle Institute and $75 each for my two sisters at Catholic Central High School.

Further, in the mid-1950s, only about 30 percent of Catholic school students went on to college. Today, practically all of our Catholic school students go on to higher education at costs of $20,000-$40,000 annually. Par-ents often have to prioritize: either to expend the $3,000-4,000 tuition per year for a Catholic grammar school or the $5,000-10,000 tuition for a Catholic high school; or to save at the elementary and high school level in order to have the resources to put their children through college.

The paradox is that we are probably doing a much better job in Catholic school education today than we were in our "heyday." We have much smaller class sizes, fully-certified teachers and administrators and curricula competitive with public schools and other private schools.

Indeed, the charter school movement, which has impacted our area disproportionately than throughout our state and nation, has sought to emulate Catholic school education with an emphasis on less red tape, more discipline, school uniforms and greater parental in-volvement.

What's been tried
How can we capitalize on this great asset and track-proven heritage we have? God knows we have tried! We've moved from neighborhood schools to regional schools; we've gone from Kindergarten-through grade-eight to K-through-five, with joint junior and senior high schools; we've added pre-K programs and the latest computer technology. But our enrollments continue to decline.

That's the challenge: How do we stabilize the system, renew confidence in the future of our Catholic schools and grow them?

We have an excellent product, but it is either unaffordable for many of our people or unappreciated in general by our own Catholic community and the wider society because we have failed to tell our story adequately.

The challenges we face are not unique to this Diocese. The same set of circumstances face almost every diocese, at least in the Northeast and the Midwest.

Last chance
As bishop, I have one last opportunity to turn things around before I retire - but I need the wisdom, vision, guidance and expertise of task force members and the wider community to develop a strategic framework to do this.

I assure you I am committed to this mission; indeed, I have a passion for it. But we need a roadmap to show the way.

The Covenant to Educate, developed by the task force, has now completed its strategies for the future. Over the past two months, their plan has been shared with pastors and principals, and at regional meetings of parents and teachers for their comments.

A final report will be presented to the people of our Diocese later this month. As the Covenant and its strategic plan unfolds, I ask your prayers for and support of this vitally important endeavor.

(05/06/10) [[In-content Ad]]

---