But Catholic Schools in New York Have No Such Option
PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Playing on the moniker “the great resignation” that’s described a dwindling workforce in certain industries, Jim Rigg has dubbed the past two years “the great registration” for Catholic schools, and expanding school choice programs are a big reason why.
School choice programs are state programs that allow parents to send their children to private or charter schools, including Catholic schools, through things like tax credits, vouchers, and scholarships when they otherwise may not be able to afford it.
In fact, 2021 was called the “Year of Education Choice” as it was the biggest year for new and expanded school choice legislation. Eighteen states enacted seven new school choice programs and expanded 21 existing ones. The trend slowed, but continued, this year with nine states creating new or expanding existing choice programs.
There are now 76 such programs across 32 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, according to the advocacy organization Catholic Education Partners.
Rigg, the superintendent of Archdiocese of Miami Catholic schools, told The Tablet that the Florida legislature’s expansion of school choice programs in 2021 led the number of Archdiocese of Miami Catholic school students on state scholarships to jump 17%, growing from about 9,900 students in 2021 to about 12,000 students this year.
That has also contributed to the archdiocese’s 3.5% enrollment increase from last year, a jump to about 33,600 students this year from about 32,400 students in 2021. Rigg said the programs have enabled families who believe in the mission and values of Catholic schools.
“We’re definitely in growth mode here. It’s really exciting to see so many families take advantage of the scholarship programs,” Rigg said. “I do believe that many of our new families are drawn to us because of the quality of education that our schools provide, the environment of welcome and structure found at many of our schools, and the focus on values and faith.”
He added that over half of the archdiocesan schools are at capacity with a wait list, and the archdiocese is in active conversations about opening new schools because of the recent boom.
Nationwide, Florida is second only to Arizona in having the highest percentage of students in Catholic schools who participate in a state choice program, according to National Catholic Educational Association data from the 2021-2022 school year.
Sheri Dahl, the superintendent of Diocese of Tucson schools, told The Tablet that as a mission diocese, “a good number of students” would not be able to attend Catholic school without school choice programs. She said 86% of diocesan elementary school students and 87% of diocesan high school students participate in a state choice program.
Dahl anticipates enrollment will increase in the coming years after an existing state school choice program was expanded in September, making it universal for all students. Now, she said, they need to focus on making sure parents know the resource is available.
“There are families who still don’t know these options are available, so we’re trying to do some education pieces and promotional pieces as well to make sure Catholic schools are available and affordable [through the program],” she said.
Bishop Robert Brennan saw the benefits of school choice programs when he led the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, where a robust school choice program exists.
Bishop Brennan told The Tablet that school choice programs not only allowed parents the ability to make their own choices about their children’s education, but they allowed the Catholic schools to “really reflect the wide community of people who were living [in the diocese].”
He said it’s “really unfortunate” that New York doesn’t have a robust school choice program.
“I don’t think that it’s intentional discrimination, but it ends up discriminating against people who would really like to make their own decision,” Bishop Brennan said.
The last available statistics on school choice programs from Catholic Education Partners are from 2019, before the recent school choice program boom, but that year the organization estimates that through 20 existing school choice programs across 28 states, Catholic schools received $538 million, and the programs led more than 137,000 students to Catholic schools.
Shawn Peterson, the president of Catholic Education Partners and a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Catholic Education, told The Tablet that there’s a bright future for Catholic education with the growth of these programs.
“These school choice programs are just because they give parents the opportunity to make those choices for their kids regardless of their economic situation,” he said. “Upper-middle, and upper-class parents will always have those options because they’ve got the money to do that, but those parents who are on the margins … these programs make up that difference.”
Peterson anticipates more growth for school choice programs when the 2023 legislative session gets underway. He said in addition to advocating for new programs and an expansion of existing programs, the church needs to let families know these options exist.
“The end goal is to have it so that every family that wants to has the opportunity to send their child to a Catholic school,” Peterson said. “And It’s not just advocating and getting these programs passed, but then once they are, then the church’s mission changes to really helping parents enroll and use these programs to their fullest.”
