Parochial School
A parochial school is a private elementary school run by the Catholic Church. Since the 1960s the number of students in parochial schools in the United States has been declining, and many have closed.
The number of students in Catholic schools is only 2.27 million, compared with 5.25 million in the 1960s. Now there are only 7,378 parochial schools, while in the 1960s there were 12,893.[1]
The decline is accelerating. "About 1,267 Catholic schools have closed since 2000 and enrollment nationwide has dropped by 382,125 students, or 14 percent, according to the National Catholic Education Association."[2]
Catholic nuns ("sisters") traditionally filled many of teaching positions at parochial schools, particularly at the elementary school level. In 1965, 104,000 teaching sisters educated students in parochial schools in the United States. By 2007, that number had declined by 94%, such that there are only 8,200 teaching sisters.[3]
References
- ↑ http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CATHOLIC_SCHOOL_CLOSURES?SITE=NCAGW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
- ↑ http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CATHOLIC_SCHOOL_CLOSURES?SITE=NCAGW&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
- ↑ Hilary White, "Vatican Cardinal Criticizes U.S. for not Funding Catholic Schools," The Wanderer, pp. 1 and 7, Vol. 140, No. 49 (Dec. 6, 2007).