Covid-19 has contributed to the permanent closure of over 160 Catholic schools across 23 states. Additionally, internal surveys show ten percent of Catholic schools are still uncertain of their future. That means as many as 500 or more additional Catholic schools could be in jeopardy of closing in the wake of the pandemic.
A bipartisan group of Senators and House members have revived the Covid relief talks and we need your help to ensure Catholic schools are included in this new legislation.
We are asking Congress to incorporate the School Choice Now Act, which authorizes funding for state-based scholarship granting organizations, a federal tax credit for donations , and appropriate funds based on the number of children enrolled in nonpublic schools (10 % nationwide). Further, we ask Congress to provide access to equitable services that include non-public schools in any emergency K12 education funding.
Catholic schools urgently need help in this time of uncertainty. Please contact your senators and representatives today!
The above comes from a Dec. 8 email from the California bishops’ Catholic Legislative Network.
This raises an interesting question. Generally, “our” schools and other private schools should not accept government money (including the “strings” which are attached).
Yet, when government restrictions cause private schools and businesses to fail, is accepting relief for the damage the government has caused acceptable?
If Catholic schools and other private endeavors fail on their own, so be it. But, that may not be the case at this time.
@ anonymous clergyman – I agree with you in principle; however, it’s a slippery slope and opens the door to our churches possibly losing tax-exempt status. Along with that, our schools might become subject to government interference by eliminating our schools’ religious curricula.
I disagree. Sanctuary states like California refuse to enforce immigration laws, yet California continues to receive federal funding. Oh that’s right, California is a Democrat state, rules and laws do no apply.
Noting the name of the school in the picture, why don’t the bishops ask Our Lady “Help of Christians” for help? How ironic that a school with such a name had to close. Where was the help?
Devotion to Mary, Help of Christians should be revived.
Religious schools should not take financial help from the government. There will ALWAYS be strings attached in some way. I know it’s silly to suggest, but why aren’t parents asked to help financially? (Yes, yes, I know the story. They can’t afford to help.)
I had one other thought on my mind regarding this issue: Why should taxpayers’ dollars be used to bail out Catholic schools, when most taxpayers have to send their children to public schools because they can’t afford private schools? It just doesn’t look good.
Catholic schools, Episcopal schools, Lutheran schools, Islamic schools, Jewish schools, etc. are for people who don’t want to send their kids to public schools, for whatever reason. My tax dollars go to public schools. At one time I lived in a small gated community, so our HOA owned the streets which needed to be resurfaced every few years. We paid for it out of our monthly dues. We did not ask the town or state to fix our private roads, because tax dollars should go to public streets, not private streets. Same thing with the schools.
This proposal won’t work until in-person school returns to being the norm. Once that happens, every bishop should unilaterally close Catholic schools and direct parents to enroll their children in the local public school. Then, if any new transfer student is bused out of district or treated differently from other students, or if the educational opportunities offered are in any way inferior to those that already-enrolled students receive, parents should be directed to sue the state and the schools with the help of diocesan-provided lawyers.
There’s no way the public school system would be able to handle a sudden influx of many thousands more students in Southern California, for example. Private schools save the state money. If the state is threatened with lawsuits because of education discrimination, maybe it will warm up to the idea of funding private education with taxpayer subsidies.
Then, once the battle has been won, open up Catholic schools again.
I guess I’m not the only one that noticed that Dictator Newsom will not stand for for anyone ignoring his dictates (except himself and his comrades), but he finds it perfectly fine to ignore the mandates of the federal government. He is the definition of a hypocrite.