Frank Reilly School Of Art

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Adah Orhenkowski

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Aug 5, 2024, 11:07:50 AM8/5/24

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Moreoverthe NCEA reported a 0.3% increase in Catholic-school enrollment last year and a larger 3.7% increase in 2021-22. The numbers of both years were expertly spun by pundits: The first annual increases in Catholic school enrollment in two decades! The largest increase in 50 years!

We can certainly be hopeful about growing opportunities for school choice in many states. And regardless of declining parochial school numbers, we can be excited about faithful Catholic home schooling and independent schools. And yet the media and many in the Church seem to willfully disregard other ominous trends in our culture and in our Church, including drastic declines in marriage and baptism. We need to be frank about these concerns and their impact on Catholic education.

The Cardinal Newman Society urges a renewal of faithful parochial schools, a full embrace of Catholic home schooling and parent-led schools, and a Catholic exodus from public schools. But if Catholic leaders and educators instead ignore the true crisis of mission and identity, they abandon Catholic families to an increasingly hostile culture.

The NCEA also reports data by six regions of the U.S. and touts recent growth in the Southeast region, largely because of school choice in Florida. But in the Mideast region, home to the largest portion of Catholic school students just a decade ago, Catholic school enrollment has plummeted 26% in 10 years. Overall, Catholic schools have lost more than 281,000 students in that time.

The portion of Catholics in Catholic schools is now 72%, down from 97% in 1970. This means that, while total enrollment at Catholic schools has declined 61% since 1970, the decline among Catholic students is much greater: 71% in the same time period. We call that an emergency.

Patrick Reilly Patrick J. Reilly is president and founder of The Cardinal Newman Society, which promotes and defends faithful Catholic education. He also teaches at Aquinas Learning, a classical Catholic homeschool program led by his wife Rosario. They have five children.

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