Religion & Law

I linked, a few days ago, to Archbishop Dolan's wonderful essay in America on the importance of Catholic schools.  Today, the NYT is reporting on the Archbishop's plan to "save" Catholic schools by moving away from the parish-school model (in terms of governance and funding):

Each elementary school has until now been financed mainly by members of its local parish. But in the proposed reorganization, the cost of educating roughly 56,000 grade school students would be spread among all the parishes, and all the plate-passing churchgoers among 2.5 million Catholics in the archdiocese. . . .

Some of the implications of this plan?

[P]arishes forced to close schools have long been allowed to keep the money from the sale or rental of those properties, since in most cases the buildings were constructed and maintained with parishioners? dollars. The windfalls provide a financial cushion that has helped sustain many struggling parishes.

Under Archbishop Dolan?s plan, however, all proceeds would go into a common fund for the education of children throughout the archdiocese.

Parent groups and principals also worry that centralized financing of schools will eliminate justification for a small tuition break now granted to students who live in the parish, a common practice in many parochial schools. With publicly financed charter schools already nibbling at the enrollment and viability of some Catholic schools, many school administrators ? as well as parents working multiple jobs to pay tuition ? are loath to give up any incentive, no matter how small. . . .

So, creative thinking and action like this is, in many places, essential.  That said, the parish model is, in my view, the gold standard.  To be sure, this model requires an engaged and energetic pastor, a congregation that appreciates the centrality of the school to the parish's (and the Church's) evangelical mission, and -- ideally -- smart managers who know how to pool resources with other schools to take advantage of economies of scale, etc.  In today's world, it probably cannot be the only model.  But, the move away from it is a loss.