Gerald M. Cattaro

Brown at 50 The Dream is Still Alive in Urban Catholic Schools

In light of the elimination of busing to achieve racial integration and judicial reluctance to consider creative, new ways to provide integrated, high quality learning environments for poor and minority children, advocates of the principles established by Brown must no longer accept the public schools as the best hope for providing integrated schooling. Educators should seriously consider supporting Catholic schools as a viable option in effort to advance racial integration since absent immediate support, these models for integration might be lost for future generations.

Catholic Schools Enduring Presence in Urban America

Paradoxically, because Catholic schools did not abandon education in urban society, the recent Supreme Court ruling on vouchers awakens interest in one of our nation’s best-kept urban secrets. Using the voucher case Zelman v. Simmons-Harris as a departure point, this article considers the past and current status of urban Catholic schools. The author appeals to the common good, to a common understanding, and to the common discourse in directing the United States’s struggle to meet the needs of a diverse and pluralistic society.

Immigration and Pluralism in Urban Catholic Schools.

This article investigates how Catholic schools are making the transformation from National schools in the inner city to multicultural schools as they meet the needs of these new immigrants. The conceptualization of mediating institutions will be the theoretical underpinning to a study of Catholic schools in New York City. Mediating will be used to investigation urban Catholic schools willingness to experience diversity. Mediating institutions such as schools can reduce apprehension and fear to public life, help reduce the fear of cultural stereotypes, provide a common ground, deal with the question of identity, and provide a secure environment in which tradition values and patterns of life can be expressed.

DEVELOPMENTS IN CATHOLIC SCHOOLS IN THE USA: POLITICS, POLICY, AND PROPHESY

Long a major force in American1 education, new Roman Catholic elementary and secondary schools continue to open in such geographically diverse locations as Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Orlando (Zehr, 2005). At the same time, schools in such places as the Diocese of Brooklyn, the only all-urban diocese in the USA, and home to some of the oldest Catholic schools in the nation, schools continue to close (Newman, 2005). As a result, the Catholic schools’ share of the nonpublic school population continues to decline. Yet, even in light of this steady decline, Catholic schools remain the largest nonpublic school “system” in the USA (see Figure 1). In reality, it should be kept in mind that Catholic schools are not as much a system as a loosely coupled collection of independent schools.2 Catholic schools in the USA have been critical to the development of the American culture, legal rights, and religious values, and family choice for over 200 years. For when the nation was founded and the current constitutional government implemented in 1784, not one Catholic parochial school existed in the nation (as the fi rst Catholic parish was not opened until 1783 in Philadelphia), even though a Protestant system of public schools was established in each state and a range of religious schools, again run by Protestant sectors. It was not until the fi rst wave of Catholic immigrants arrived, that the set was staged for the formation of religious rights of schooling. The fusion of politics, policy, and prophecy paved the road to what is perceived by many to be one of the most complex structures of Catholic education in the

The Legal Rights of Students with Disabilities in Christian Schools

The adoption of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) and the Education for All Handicapped Childrens Act, now the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), have had a major impact on the delivery of services for children with special needs. In light of the legal issues surrounding the delivery of special education to children who attend Christian schools, the remainder of this article is divided into two parts. The first section opens with an overview of relevant litigation pertinent to special education before reviewing Sections 504 and the IDEA, along with its regulations, as they apply to religious schools. The second part offers practical suggestions for educators in Christian elementary and secondary schools as they work to serve children with special needs.

Faith-Based Charter Schools: An Idea Whose Time is Unlikely to Come

Simply stated, the efforts of their supporters notwithstanding,1 it is unlikely that faith-based charter schools,2 which are opening as the number of religiously affiliated non-public schools declines,3 can survive judicial scrutiny. Moreover, even if religious charter schools, whether Catholic,4 Christian,5 Jewish,6 or Muslim,7 can withstand challenges in federal courts,8 it is likely that they would be struck down due to significant state constitutional restrictions9 forbidding aid to religious institutions. Further, overlapping statutory limits typically prevent religious entities from operating charter schools,10 require that they be nonsectarian in nature,11 and/ or restrict them to operating in non-sectarian manners.12 As an initial matter, it is important to note that the charter school movement, which began in 1991 in Minnesota,13 has spread to forty states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.14 Charter schools, which are public schools of choice, are typically operated as not-for-profit organizations, essentially functioning as independent districts consisting of single schools, by private groups including parents either independently or occasionally in conjunction with public institutions such as universities. In return for being exempted from many state regulations, charter schools are accountable for the academic achievement of their students. While charters vary in duration, they typically range from three to five years in length.15 When contracts expire, depending on state law, charters can be renewed or terminated. Charter schools, although free from many state rules with regard to staff and curricular issues, remain subject to federal and state anti-discrimination laws such as those dealing with students with disabilities and employment. In addition, charter schools typically cannot be operated by religious groups.16 Of course, significant questions remain over the extent to which faculty and staff in faith-based charter schools may actually teach about the religious beliefs and practices of their sponsors.

State Aid to Religiously Affiliated, Non-Public Schools: An Emerging Trend or Same Old Same Old?

This article reviews judicial attitudes with regard to the constitutionality of aid for children in religiously affiliated non-public schools. The first part highlights the extent to which the Supreme Court appears to have turned the corner in its willingness to examine the effective use of resources in regular education rather than just the acceptability of aid. The second section reviews how Congressional and regulatory activities have contributed to lower court decisions that continue to focus on the narrow issues of how much money can be spent and the appropriate locations for the delivery of services to children who attend religiously affiliated non-public schools rather than the quality of education that they may be eligible to receive. Given the distinctions between the ways in which children in religiously affiliated non-public schools are treated based on whether they have disabilities, this article examines recent legal trends in considering whether there will be a new era in providing children ...