New report examines how to help inner-city Catholic schools

Published: 2008-04-16

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Catholic schools in America's cities are "in crisis," according to a new report highlighting the closure of 1,300 Catholic schools in the past two decades. The report, conducted by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a Washington think tank, not only lists statistics, such as the displacement of 300,000 students due to school closings, but it also examines possible solutions to reverse this trend. Chester Finn, president of the Fordham Institute, called the report's April 10 release date timely, since it was just prior to Pope Benedict XVI's U.S. visit when he said the "nation's attention will focus briefly on the church and its key institutions." "Now is a terrific time to recognize that a national treasure -- and one of the great accomplishments of the Catholic Church in America -- is perishing and to consider what, if anything, can be done about it," Finn said in a statement. The 121-page report, "Who Will Save America's Urban Catholic Schools?" cites statistics from the National Catholic Educational Association in Washington. The NCEA annually lists numbers of school closings, openings and enrollment figures. According to these figures, Catholic school enrollment is now about 2.3 million, down from its peak of 5.2 million in the early 1960s.

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