Chapter 1: The Past Before US: Historical Models for Future Parish Schools

Catholic schools are in trouble. Over the past six years enrollment at Catholic elementary schools has declined 15% and enrollment in Catholic high schools has dropped 12%.

These declines are ironic because Catholic schools once were—and might become again—effective alternatives to public education. In fact, some Catholic schools are in the process of becoming new models by reaching a broad cross section of children, non-Catholic, as well as Catholic (Walch, 1997; Walch, 2000).

What is it that these new models offer to public education? Foremost among the elements is decentralization. To be sure, superintendents and diocesan boards of education nominally control all parochial schools. However, for the most part, parish schools are administered effectively at the local level. Funding for the schools comes from the community. Principals hire teachers without interference. Parents have a greater involvement and effectiveness in the education process because they are working with a single institution in their neighborhood rather than a faceless bureaucracy downtown (Bryk, Lee, & Holland, 1993; Lee, 1997).