Anyone currently sending their kids to Catholic School?

Question

I went to private Catholic School from 1969 thru 1980 and had several Bad experiences.
1) Among them was the obvious favoritism shown towards children that came from families who were wealthy and gave generous donations of money and time. In some cases, kids from these families were alowed to get away with things that were Clearly expulsionable offenses according to the schools own rule book. (ie drug offenses, severe assualts etc...)

Given the current scrutiny and reduction of support to the Catholic Church because of the sex scandles, it is reasonable to assume that the Church's need for money has, if nothing else, Increased. Has Anyone with children in a current Catholic school system experienced or witnessed passive Or active favoratism to children from wealthy families?

I am concerned because in Many cases, favoritism to one child ends up hurting another and we are at a dissision point as to whether or not My son with go to Catholic school.

Thank you for your answers

daljack: You did Not answer my question. In fact, the way you worded you response would lead me to believe that you acknowledge that the same kind of things are going on in the Catholic school system today and that you are OK with it.

Answer 1

i went to a catholic grammar school and am currently attending a catholic high school. there are some good things and bad things about it.

the class sizes are usually smaller, and you get a strong sense of catholic morals

on the bad side the teachers are paid less than public school teachers and are usually the ones that are incredibly religious or can't get a job anywhere else.

i have never witnessed favoritism but it does seam that all catholic schools (or at least high schools) are pretty desperate to raise enrollment and often let students get away with things that would normally get them expelled.

Answer 2

We're putting our daughter in private Catholic school this year. The public schools to me are horrid. The classes are too big and they're not being taught enough of the basics. She had Spanish, but rarely had Science or Social Studies. I see big issues with that. She's extremely smart and was never challenged in public school. Then we had an issue toward the end of the year where another girl threatened her. The school refused to do anything about it. I knew that's when we had to make a change for her own good. I know several people who go to the Catholic school she'll be attending and they say that the issues that you're worried about don't really exist. Her school still has uniforms....that alone keeps the kids on the same "financial" level. Nobody is dressed better than anyone else. They also say that there isn't discipline problems and the issue that happened the end of last year wouldn't have happened at all because the situation would have been handled before it went that far. She's not nervous at all about changing schools and we're excited about the education she's going to be getting.

Even without going through a school year yet, from what I've seen and experienced, I'd say go for it. I think you'd be happy to enroll them in private school. Good luck!!

Answer 3

All three of my kids attended the Catholic school until we moved to a town that did not have one locally. I can't say as I saw any of the problems that you are talking about and my oldest went for 7 years. I guess maybe a lot of that was we were in a very small town (population 2900) and all of the kids had known each other their entire lives and since the teachers weren't nuns they had also known most of the kids since birth. I know what you are saying though and although I don't condone it in any way I still feel that the education my kids got at the Catholic school was better than what they get now. They now attend a public school and it is just as bad about favoritism, the kids from the right side of the tracks are looked upon differently and the kids from the wrong side of the tracks are ignored and said to be worthless. As in any school public or parochial the best thing a parent can do is be involved and let it be known as soon as any of this behavoir starts so an innocent child isn't affected.

Answer 4

We have sent both of our children to Catholic school for their entire school career.
We are very very please with our decision.
Our oldest daughter was 10 years old when she was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrom (it is on the Autistic Disorder Scale).
The reason why she was 10 years old before she was diagnosed was because the school was working with her so individually.
That is the level of commitment they give.
We (the parents) are the ones who got the evaluation done, and went to them (the school) with the information.
They bent over backwards to get her what she needed, including changing her schedule (not the entire classes, but her's) so she could get social skills training at the public school.
They never once said that we should consider transfering her out.
And let me tell you - we are far from the biggest contributors to the school or the church.
We pay our tuition (and because of unemployment in the past, we have even been there on financial aid), but do not have alot of extra to give.
They have never treated us any differently because of our money or rather lack of it.

My daughter was not the only one with "issues", in her class there are ADHD children, and dsylexia, along with "typical" kids.

I was a product of the public school system, and I had a lot of bad experiences there, along the same lines as those you mentioned.

Favortism is out there in every environment
.
If someone donates a lot of money to any of the sports programs or donates computers or lab equipment, and the school leadership is the type to be overly impressed by this, their kids will get away with more.
The way people are treated is dictated by the people who are running the system.

Statisics show that private school children score higher in the overall standardized testing.

No school, public or private, is today what it was in the 60's-80's.

I would suggest that you visit both your local Catholic School and your local Public School.
Do your research - who has higher testing scores, who has more students in the class?

Faith based learning is so much more today than it was 20 plus years ago.

Talk to parents that go to both schools.

We did, and found out both were good options.
We choose private school because the test scores were higher, and because we wanted a faith based learning environment for our children.
You need to decide which choice is best for your family.

Good luck!

Answer 5

My 10 year old daughter has gone to Catholic school ever since kindergarten. I personally haven't seen the favoritism you are referring to,although the students from her school all come from working class families, not wealthy families. The school my daughter attends has strict rules in place for all the children who attend there, they don't weed kids out based on finances or any other reason. I chose to send her to Catholic school because it provides her with structure which I think kids need today. I have never had a bad experience thus far with her going to Catholic school, in fact I think it was the best thing for her. I hope this answers your question.

Answer 6

I have family members who send their children to Catholic schools because it's a better education, not as many discipline problems, not as many students.

Very few of the teachers are now nuns....it's still a Catholic religious training because that's really what you're paying for.

If you have concerns there are private schools that may suite your needs better. All private schools are a choice you make to send your child to their schools and you have to abide my their rules and regulations because......it's private.

Answer 7

My son just finished his first year at a Catholic school and I haven't noticed the favoritism you refer to. So far we've had only good experiences!

Good luck!