Catholic schools to close or merge

" When the huge majority of these Catholic school parents -- greater than 90% (I know because they hold elections at school which pretty much reveals how the parents are voting), vote for a politician who is adamantly against school vouchers and believes in pouring more money into public schools (while sending his own kids to private schools to avoid the mostly failing urban public schools), then don't you just think that these parents have spoken. There is an expression my son learned in kindergarten: "you get what you get and you don't get upset". In this case these people chose overwhelmingly to support public schools over Catholic schools in the voting booth. And let's face it, these schools aren't very Catholic anyway, so why should they stay open -- the point is to provide strong academics but also more importantly they are supposed to be for raising our children in the Catholic faith. Don't you think the parishioners who contribute to Catholic schools via the Church are expecting these schools to be. CATHOLIC? If these schools are not dedicating a continued amount of effort to the teachings of the catechism, well, then, what's the point, right? Over these years I was always a huge supporter of Catholic schools and really spoke out strongly against the devastation of the closings, but, unfortunately, I've learned a great deal over the years about their ability to even comprehend what a good quality Catholic education should consist of -- so now I say, good riddance. "

" I think the church ought to support those schools that are still vibrant. These fine schools produce students strongly dedicated to their faith, families, and communities by providing an intellectually stimulating enviornment , rich in spirituality, charactor and moral development. Now scecil consider that, because these are important factors you did not think about. "

" Being a St. Aloysius alum, I can tell you that they were very dedicated 'to the teachings of the' Catholic faith. I went to that school from K-8 and was not of the Catholic faith but still learned a whole lot enough to have a great respect for the religion. Closing down the schools I don't think is the solution...how about lowering fees instead?? I don't know how the school system works presently when it comes to going to these private schools but I know when I was attending it was quite pricey. I just hope that there will be some way found to keep these schools from being shut down. "

" One reason that no one is mentioning when talking about why these schools are losing students is the quality of the education and the staff. My child attended St. Catherine from K-8 and while she received a good education, I found that she was behind what was being taught in the "failing" public schools in our district. Many parents pulled their children out because of the way the administration handled internal matters and there was no outside resource that could be tapped into to help. In talking with other parents with children in Catholic schools across the borough, it was common to remove their children after the third grade, because the education and environment was better for the child in a public school. St. Catherine has been going downhill for years and while I am sorry for the children attending now who will have to be moved, it may just be best in the long run. "