With any journey to educate ourselves about a topic with no prior knowledge I think it is important to study the background information. Only through learning about the roots of Catholic Education can we fully understand how it compares to education in the Public Sector here in the United States.
English Colonies
During the colonial era not many Catholics immigrants settled in the English colonies. This was due to England being a primarily Protestant country. However, a small Catholic population settled in the in the colony of Maryland.
Saint John's Catholic Prep was officially created in 1829 in Frederick, MD by a Jesuit Priest named John McElroy. Although this school has gone through several changes over the years it still is educating children today.
Saint Johns Prep
French/Spanish Colonies
The Spanish and later French colonies in North America is where we can see a substantial influence of Catholic education. Originally settled by Spain and later administered by the French, New Orleans was where Catholic education really took root. Here Ursulines and other Catholic nuns ran private Catholic schools to educate the well off and the poor. These efforts even reached out and taught free and enslaved African Americans.
The oldest school for girls, Ursuline Academy, was founded here in 1727, and graduated the first female Pharmacist and first woman to contribute a book of literary merit. The list of important contributions this school has made for women in the United States is quite lengthy.
Ursuline Academy
Parochial/Parish Schools
As stated previously the majority of the country was Protestant until the mid-1800's where the potato famine in Ireland drove an exodus of Irish immigrants of Catholic faith to the United States. Many Americans at the time felt that these new Irish immigrant children should be educated in public schools to become "Americanized". In the 1880's the Blaine Amendments were passed which forbid public tax money to be used to fund parochial schools in the United States. This not only just affected Catholics but other minority religious sects and their associated private schools. This however did not deter the Irish who by the late 19th century had created a large footprint of parochial schools to protect their faith, language, and culture,
The parochial schools were staffed by low paid Catholic nuns who often times themselves not the most educated. In fact until well past World War II the Catholic Education system was known to lag behind the Public system in quality of education. Strict obedience, piety, and religious studies were the focal point of these early parochial schools with education taking a sub-servant role. In 1904 the Catholic Education Association was formed to organize and the parochial school movement across the country. In 1911 the Catholic University in Washington D.C. began summer training courses to educate the nuns in the parochial schools in pedagogical techniques.
Catholic schools despite this reputation for sub standard education grew at roughly the same pace as the public schools. In 1900 their were 3,500 parochial schools and by 1920 that number had almost doubled to over 6,500. In 1900 approximately 100 Catholic schools were in operations and by 1920 that numbers had grown to more than 1,500. Catholic school enrollment peaked in the mid-1960's with over 4.5 million elementary students and 1 million high school students. By the 1970's though the Catholic school systems started to shrink in size with more people moving to the suburbs and enrolling in public schools. By 2013 the total enrollment of students in Catholic schools from K-12 is just over 2 million students. Present Enrollment
Historical Legislation/Landmark Cases
Oregon Compulsory Education Act (1922)
In 1922 the citizen of Oregon voted to amend state law to require all children between the ages of 8 and 16 attend public school. This law, commonly called the Oregon School Bill was sponsored by the Masonic Lodge and the Klu Klux Klan and was a direct attack on Catholics in the state of Oregon. In 1925 the Supreme Court of the United States heard the case, Pierce v. Society of Sisters, and ruled that the Oregon Compulsory Education Act was unconstitutional.
Blaine Amendments
In 1875 President U.S. Grant called for free funding of public schools and the prohibition of tax money being allocated to sectarian schools. The President directed this toward parochial schools because he felt they were corrupt. The irony is that President Grant was one of the most corrupt Presidents in the history of the United States (President Grant Scandals)
Around the same time as President Grant's call for an amendment, Maine Senator James Blaine proposed such a law that failed to pass through Congress. However 34 states took the legislative work that Blaine did on this amendment and used it for the framework for similar state level legislation. These laws passed and are still in effect today.
Conclusion
Although Catholic schools were present as early as the late 18th century, it wasn't until the influx of Irish immigrants in the mid-19th century that they started to spread. This movement in parochial school growth lasted until the mid-1960's when more and more people began to move to the suburban schools (public). Today although over 2 million students are enrolled in parochial schools that number continues to decrease.
As we read about the history of the development of Catholic based education I can see a lot of anti-catholic influence in legislation. Is this the right answer? Separation of Church and State being the basis?
While many parochial schools at the beginning of the 20th century focused more on religious topics I think it has obviously shifted to more of preparing students for college level academics (we will dig into this in section 3). So should some forms of limited government funding be allocated to private religious based schools as long as that money isn't applied toward religious studies? What if that money was used to pay for athletic teams, advanced science equipment, etc.? Or do we assume that the cost of tuition shouldered by parents are to be used for these items?
As we continue to research the topic it will be interesting to see if the lack of federal funding has impacted student performance and if it can be linked if it appears it has.
Sources not directly links:
Catholic History
Catholic Schools in the USA
History of Catholic Education in the United States
Blaine Amendments
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