Thoughts on the relationship of parochial schools and catholic schools.

 Friends

    Peace be with you.

    I've spent a fair amount of time in my life reflecting on the importance of Catholic schools and whether they are important in today's world. At points, I must admit, that I have come to the conclusion that Catholic schools are an expense the parish is forced to subsidize for a majority of people who have a tangential (at best) relationship to it. Many people send their kids to Catholic schools but do not attend Sunday Mass or have much to do with the Catholic church in general. The majority of Catholic school students who graduate from Catholic schools do not attend or participate in the Catholic Church after graduation. There are other factors, too many to list really, that made me question why we spend so much time and energy keeping a school system afloat that seems doomed to failure. 

    But the more I reflect upon it, the more I have been forced to change my mind. Fundamentally, I think there should be schools where people who do not want their children to learn about religion can send their kids, which I think is one of the benefits of the public school system. However, I also believe that parents who want their kids to learn in an environment that integrates religion into learning, in this case Catholic Christianity, should be able to send their kids to a parochial school. And it is to a religion's advantage to want to teach children because they CAN integrate the spiritual life within each class. My experience in a public school was that religion could only be mentioned derogatorily. When a history teacher mentioned the crusades, religion was at fault. When a science teacher talked about a heliocentric vision of the universe, it was always juxtaposed against the church's more fundamentalist geocentric model and the Aristotle trial would inevitably be brought up. If a literature teacher were to assign the Scarlet Letter, for instance, religion would be brought up as a source of paranoia and bias. There was no context involved in these discussions, no offering the church's or religion's point of view. It seemed the point was to quickly denigrate religion and then move on. 

    Religious schools can fill in the gaps that public schools are forced to leave out. We can talk about how Copernicus, a Catholic monk, was actually the first to propose a model of the universe where the sun was at the center and that the issue with Galileo had as much to do with struggling to deal with the literalism of Martin Luther and Ulrich Zwingli as anything else. We can say that Pope John Paul II has apologized for the whole affair and said it marks an ugly time for the church and we can show how, consistently, Catholic schools are on the forefront of science and scientific discovery. We can talk about the complexities of the crusades and how it as much had to do with the growth and strengthening of Islam and talk about how Christianity used to be a stronghold in North Africa but was largely wiped out by Islamic violence. We can talk about the Battle of Lepanto and show how Christianity in Europe had to defend itself against this same group of violent Islamists. And, we can talk about the theology of the Puritans and show where it came from and what parts of the Bible is exploited to come up with it's worldview. We can look into the history of Christianity and see connections between it and previous groups in a way that the public school simply cannot out of fear of being seen as partisan. 

    This is not meant to say that a parochial school should be entirely opposed to a public school or that one is inherently better than the other. Actually, I think balancing cooperation with some charitable competitiveness is the best relationship possible. If one school needs the help of the other, I think it is in both school's best interests to offer it. If they can collaborate on some athletics that neither school seems to be able to field, that is best for the kids in both schools. What I find unhelpful is when one school, either the public or the parochial, seems to make it a goal to dominate the other. Most of the time it is the larger public school dictating to the smaller Catholic school what classes or sports or extracurricular activities it is willing to share. I do know of one situation, however, where a Catholic school made sure a public school was not built in their town out of fear that they would lose kids to it. And, more recently, there have been allegations of public money being given to private schools to the detriment of the public schools. But that is a separate column for someone with more expertise than I. I also don't find it helpful for the two schools to essentially disown each other and refuse to collaborate at all. That sets the students, staff, and administration against one another and creates and fuels hostility between the schools. 

    So, what does a relationship balancing cooperation with some charitable competitiveness look like if not the above? I'd suggest that the schools cooperate when they can and seek to support one another when they can't. If one of the schools has a class or sport or extracurricular activity that they're willing to share, they should inform and welcome the other school to send some students. And if one school needs help in academics or extracurricular activities, they should inform the other school and ask for their help. Encouraging collaboration among teachers and coaches for students of both schools to learn together when they can would benefit the schools and the entire community. When there are competitions, strongly encourage students and fans to cheer for each other. Make sure your coaches and players know that this is a different type of game, closer to a brother playing a brother where the point cannot be to humiliate or alienate because you're going to have to live together afterwards. Perhaps even be willing to remove players, parents, or students who seem more intent on turning it into a grudge match than a charitable competition. 

    In the end, I think it has to be a relationship built on mutual respect. There are going to be subjects and activities that are proper to each school that the other simply won't be able to participate in. But where cooperation is possible, it not only helps to foster good will between the students but between their parents and the whole community in general.