Catholic Schools Are Losing Students at Record Rates, and Hundreds Are Closing - WSJ

Some secular families are turned off by the church’s opposition to abortion or same-sex marriage, said Carol Ann MacGregor, vice provost of Loyola University New Orleans. Meanwhile, more the most devout Catholics are home-schooling their children, in some cases because they don’t believe Catholic schools are focused enough on the faith.

Catholic schools, from the very beginning, have served the poorest of the poor. It’s at the heart of their mission. The trend of closings will surely hurt lower income and urban families disproportionately.

I disagree that the schools are losing students because of opposition to Church teaching on social issues. But I agree that homeschooling is a very real threat to the business model. Un-subsidized tuition can easily hit $10,000 for a single student kindergarten alone, before considering uniforms, activity fees, etc. Homeschooling books and course plans can be bought off the shelf for less than $1,000.

The Church teaches that parents are the primary educators of their children. There are more curricula and resources available to parents today than ever before. Parents taking their vocation seriously is a positive development.