Last week, City Journal published Partnership Superintendent Kathleen Porter-Magee’s roadmap for post-pandemic growth in Catholic schools. She notes:
Last month, the National Catholic Educational Association (NCEA) broke the news that, in 2020, Catholic schools experienced their largest enrollment decline in 50 years: a 6.4 percent drop between 2019 and 2020. At first glance, this seems a bad omen. Yet, beneath the surface of the headline are some hopeful signs. Indeed, a careful examination of the pandemic performance of Catholic schools reveals a playbook that leaders, policymakers, and philanthropists can follow to ensure access to an academically rigorous, faith-filled education for current and future generations—regardless of their income or zip code. Ultimately, the pandemic may help Catholic schools position themselves as valuable alternatives to public schools.
About the data that points to hope:
Declining enrollment in a pandemic is not inevitable, though. Some sectors have seen increases, including homeschooling; charter schools in some jurisdictions, including Ohio (10.6 percent) and New York City (7.7 percent); and Catholic schools in areas where families have broad access to school choice. Mounting evidence suggests that, when barriers to school choice are lowered—either by parents’ own circumstances or public policies—families will exercise their newfound freedom.
About the reasons for enrollment declines this year:
The first reason: parents decided to keep their younger kids at home. While overall enrollment did decline by 6 percent in 2020, pre-K and kindergarten accounted for nearly half (47.3 percent) of the total drop in Catholic school enrollment. That is consistent with the nationwide trend: across the country, parents of preschoolers and kindergarteners simply opted to sit this year out…
Second, and perhaps more important, many families face unequal access to Catholic schools…
About steps Catholic schools can take to boost enrollment:
Leverage natural demand. Despite the dark cloud cast by enrollment trends, people want faith-based education. NCEA data show that the number of Catholic schools with waiting lists increased (from 28.5 percent to 39.7 percent) last year. Eight dioceses managed to lift overall enrollment in the midst of the pandemic…
Remove barriers to entry…Cost is not the only barrier to Catholic school enrollment. Admissions requirements can create needless obstacles. Our analysis of our own New York schools shows that we lose 87 percent of families who are unable to fulfill paperwork requirements in the first week after their initial outreach…
Reconnect with pre-K and Kindergarten families. Nearly half of the 6.4 percent decline in overall Catholic school enrollment that the NCEA reported is concentrated in pre-K and Kindergarten…
Realize that the combination of Catholic school excellence and school choice is unstoppable…To thrive, Catholic schools need to combine equitable funding with access to academically excellent programs that give low-income parents the same choices as wealthier ones and productive, faith-filled school cultures.
For more on the mix of public policy and levers that all Catholic schools can already use to drive enrollment increases, access the full article here.