From Crains:In little more than two months, St. Raphael School in Long Island City, Queens, will close, and a new chapter will begin for the 160 students, from nursery school to eighth grade, who must find alternatives, as well as for the neighborhood that the school has served for the past half century.
“If your business isn't viable and you have no other sources of income, you have to close,” said Stefanie Gutierrez, press secretary for the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, which covers Kings and Queens counties. St. Raphael will just become one of the latest victims of falling enrollments and rising costs, that in its own case was expected to leave it with a $200,000 deficit this year, despite the diocese and parents all chipping in.
The picture is much the same at Corpus Christi School in nearby Woodside, which will also close its doors in June, as it was for two other parochial schools that have closed in the area in the past decade.
In fact, the school office set up open houses at other parochial schools in Long Island City, Astoria, Maspeth and Woodside, and helped to get St. Raphael's students priority for enrollment. But with fewer classrooms for the same number of students, some of the more popular schools already have waiting lists.
All of the students, however, will lose the opportunity to attend schools in their own neighborhoods. But the diocese insists it has no choice in the face of the thinning ranks of Catholics in Brooklyn and Queens—currently about 1.4 million, down 200,000 in just the past 10 years, as many Irish, Italian and Eastern European families have decamped for the suburbs.
“There's definitely been a demographic shift, but there's still a demand for Catholic education,” said Ms. Gutierrez. She noted, for example, recent waves of Catholic immigrants from Latin America and Asia. Many of them, however, are not able to afford tuitions that have risen steeply in recent years, as the priests and nuns have been replaced at the blackboard by lay teachers who require higher salaries and better benefits.
In the meantime, we have this: Queens kindergarten waiting lists up at zoned schools
15 comments:
Vouchers, that's the answer. These kids can stay in their Catholic schools if the government would let them pay with vouchers instead of going to public schools. I think if parents were allowed to pay with vouchers the Catholic schools would all have waiting lists.
See, problem solved... oops I forgot about politicians and their political donors, the unions.
a lot of the children that would have stayed in Catholic schools with vouchers are going to state funded charter schools. If it were not for the Blaine amendment voted in in response to the anti-Catholic immigrant waves of teh 19th century vouchers would be possible, save the State money and provide a good education and parental choice. The truth is many of the students in Catholic schools are not even Catholic nor ever will be.
Unfortunately, vouchers will never happen in NY State, because of the opposition of the UFT and the UFT's control of the leftist State Democrats.
Don't worry, the koreans or the muslims will take over the school.
Not to worry: there will be only public schools in the image of our dear leader where students will learn how to insult, do warfare, live on the back of hell knows for everyone's leaving and will eventually learn to read by the age of 20, if ever. A world according to our dear leader: bankrupt, illiterate and full of hate.Keep voting democrats!
No Anon - it is not the UFT - it is straight up bigotry from the 19th Century that prevents vouchers- See NYS Blaine Amendments that were primarily enacted in response to Irish Catholics founding their own parochial schools upon arriving in America.
If the Catholic Church would only quit blowing resources on defending, feeding, clothing and giving free $$ and medical to all these illegal "south of the borders"
It would free up 100s of millions state wide leaving PLENTY for teachers and schools.
The Pope just like the NYC Mayor feels perpetually pregnant cockroaches are more important then education and birth control.
Broke, illiterate and Democrat for as long as you give them handouts. CHECK !!
Parochial schools teachers ARE NOT unionized; thus, the UFT WILL NOT allow State Democrats to vote for tuition vouchers.
That building looks like it could be used to ease overcrowding in the Public Schools.
Rent from the catholics -but NO vouchers or other public money for religion indoctrination.
Bad enough that every hole-in-the-wall associated with these operations are tax exempt.
All of these superstitions sit on billions of dollars in real estate and pay nothing.
Vouchers are a dead issue, UFT opposition or not, so please quit the union bashing. They have become less of a serious consideration for education choice policymakers now that charter schools are becoming accepted and more popular. It's an easy way for these policymakers to get around sticky Establishment clause questions. What's worse, Catholic schools can't compete against "free" charters that often (not always) offer equivalent performance, minus the moral education component, of course. And as the Christ the King proposal shows, charters are awfully eager to physically displace or replace all competition in the market, parochial or public.
Research supports this: http://articles.nydailynews.com/2012-02-22/news/31088718_1_charter-schools-catholic-schools-new-charter
I loved my 12 years of Catholic education, but fully expect to see it as a very small niche education product in Queens' future.
I agree with RC; rent out the buildings to other not-for-profits, set up CCD at the churches for those that want a religious education for their child and move on.
Come to Clintonville and 17th to hire your pick of illegal nannies along wih contractors who will build them an illegal apartment so they can spread swine flu at SFP.
"kindergarten waiting lines"....thank the rino/lib/progressives in the nyc government ,that you may have voted for in ignorance,in the past elections.
connect with your tax enough aleady patriot group surrounding your community and petition your "SANCTUARY CITY " electeds for an education system that graduates your child ,with a meaningful diploma.
you are contributing to the $21 billion N.Y.C.D.O.E. budget. even if you pay more by enrolling in parochial schools.
young parents can stand up and be heard. try it now.
Come on old man, it's not the "rino/lib/progressives" that want illegals. The labor unions are against this too.
The reason they come here, as in every other state and country, is JOBS.
Businessmen want them here to keep unions away and wages down.
have you ever noticed that every asian owned property in Queens,when being developed or remodeled , is worked on by crews of asians that have shaped up near the property ?
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