"It would appear that parents have been asking that very question in increasing numbers. Parochial schools are facing greater competition from other private schools, alternative schools, and charter schools. In addition, they are still located where American parishes have traditionally been established: in the hearts of cities, clustered around now-vanished ethnic neighborhoods. I volunteered to serve on the parish council of a church on the Upper East Side in New York. We inherited a school that was in financial, educational, and demographic ruin. In the space of one year the archdiocese closed the school and merged it with another. A friend, pastor of a parish six blocks away, fought the good fight for as long as he could; his school soon closed, as well. According to a recent article in USA Today, enrollment in Catholic schools fell 12 percent during the 2012-2013 school year. In that same article, school administrators outline their plan of attack: new stuff, iPads, Apple TV, Smart Boards! It makes me wince. Here we go on that iceberg, again."
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Commentary: Now, this is the same old, same old recurrence: someone literally finds out that Catholic Education's gone belly up, and wonders why. Little do they know that it was actually the students who are the problem. But not only are we, the Catholic School Students are the problem, we are also the key to Catholic Education solution. As I watch the decline of Catholic Education within the United States, I wonder "why won't everyone realize that without Catholic School Students, there cannot be any Catholic Education".
-Edward Lamb
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