Improving Education Outcomes

AJC, 1/14/18 article “Atlanta schools test single gender learning” resonates with me. I attended an all boy high school.

My experience going to school in St. Louis Mo in the 1950s and 1960s gave me first- hand experience with stable schools with great students and great teachers.

These were independent schools with no central planning, no federal dollars, no political manipulation and no strings attached. The only “propaganda” was Christian. 

My education took place in Catholic parish and parochial schools owned by religious orders and operated autonomously based on the educational principles established by the founders of these religious orders. .

In St. Louis, we had a critical mass of Catholics. Fully half of all schools were Catholic schools.

There were parish-based grade schools in every residential area of St. Louis County serving grades 1 through 8. Students were homeschooled from birth by their moms to read, write and do math.  These grade schools were co-ed.

Students were able to walk and bike to school and back every day.  There were no school buses or bureaucracy. The grade schools were all next to the parish church with the rectories that housed the priests and the convents that housed the nuns. Priests and nuns were paid $50 per month. The parish also paid for their housing, food, travel and medical expenses.

Tuition was free, because it was sponsored by the parish church. Most of their revenue came from donations from bequeaths in the wills of parishioners who had died. 

By policy, Catholic schools were always integrated. These schools were built to last 400 years and were well maintained and they never moved. This provided “neighborhood schools” that were attended by multiple generations. 

I attended Immaculate Conception School in Maplewood Mo, founded in 1904. We had about 40 students in each grade and the Principal was the 8^th grade teacher.

Public school parents long for stable neighborhood grade schools.

Half the high schools in St. Louis were Catholic high schools. We had dozens of Catholic high schools in St. Louis County.

Most of these high schools were not co-ed. We had all boy high schools and all girl high schools owned and operated by religious orders. These schools had entrance exams to ensure that whoever they accepted could succeed. The separation of the genders kept students from being distracted.

I attended Christian Brothers College Military high school founded in 1850. I took the bus from Maplewood to Clayton, about 3 miles away. When I was age 16, I drove to school. We had students from all over St. Louis County. Tuition was $500 per year, but I had a half tuition scholarship and I paid $250 per year.

There were several key issues this model solved. These were not “government schools” and were free from political propagandizing.  These schools were privately owned by religious orders and they didn’t move around or herd students around, so they were stable.  These schools were not expensive to operate and were paid for entirely through donations.  These schools didn’t have to follow orders from federal, state or county bureaucrats. These were all “family schools”. My parents, aunts and uncles attended these same schools in the same buildings.

I attended St. Louis University that was owned and operated by the Jesuits and founded in 1818. It was the only Catholic university in St. Louis and was centrally located. I lived at home and drove to school every day. Tuition was $500 per semester. I paid $1000 per year.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader