Challenges to Catholic Schools

Editor:

The Challenges to Catholic Schools article in the Jan. 29 issue was excellent. Having spent 16 of my 18 years in Catholic schools, I experienced the value.

I was puzzled as to whether or not the future plan is to market the elementary and high schools to non-Catholics so as to make the schools economically feasible. Certainly the value is one non-Catholics can prosper from. I can attest to the values it gives to all students from my own experience. However, there not being a shortage of Catholic children, is promoting the school to non-Catholics, something that can be inferred from the article, really the solution? From a marketing sense, one cannot sell a product that has too high a price, and that seems to be the primary reason most Catholic parents do not send their children to Catholic K-12 schools. It would be a shame if a Catholic education with its superior value could only be available to wealthy Catholics and non-Catholics. Perhaps we need a new model or method that could/would be more inclusive?

I believe more Catholic parents would opt for a Catholic K-12 education if it were not so costly. After all, facing the prospect of college tuition with limited financial resources is daunting enough, and I suspect many not-affluent Catholics have to solve that problem by scrimping at the lower education levels.

George Bouchey