No Margin, No Mission: Challenges for Catholic Urban Schools in the USA

Abstract

In the USA over 220 Catholic schools closed in 2006, many of which were in urban areas, leaving a number of parents, students, and teachers forced to fi nd new schools. Financial troubles are affl icting Catholic schools around the country as parish subsidies decrease and school enrollments drop, while the costs of educating students in Catholic schools increases. But Catholic schools are still an indispensable presence in urban education. Urban education in the USA is inadequate. Catholic schools, especially urban Catholic schools, have been shown to actually increased student achievement, as measured by standardized test scores, dropout rates,1 and even college admission. The situation is complex, and the literature on urban Catholic schools refl ects this complexity and begs the question of how to sustain these Catholic schools. What does it mean to sustain these schools? Sustaining the Legacy: Inner-City Catholic Elementary Schools in the United States (2004) took an in-depth look into inner-city or urban schools, painting a portrait of these schools and describing the situation according to three main elements within these schools: students, staffi ng, and structure. Urban and inner-city Catholic schools need enrolled students, committed staff, and creative structures that allow these schools to meet the needs of the communities they serve while attaining the resources to provide for these needs. As this chapter will show, in many ways Catholic schools are more effective than public schools (government-funded schools), yet face many challenges regarding students, staffi ng, and structure causing many to close their doors as a result.