Urban Catholic Education: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times ed. by Thomas C. Hunt, David J. O’Brien, Timothy Walch (review)

In the words of Timothy Walch, who writes the concluding essay for this collection, “The essays in this volume hardly constitute good news.” We know that Catholic primary and secondary education reached their peak enrollments in 1966 at nearly 10 percent of the U.S. population, 5.2 million students. Since then, with rare exception, the number of enrollees has continued to fall to a point where now less than two million students attend Catholic schools. The editors asked the authors of the essays a key question: “If these schools have been so effective, why are they being closed?”

By asking experienced educators to be authors, the editors hoped that the authors would, as a consequence, be able to respond to that question by describing from the vantage point of first-hand experience what happened to Catholic education in ten major metropolitan areas: Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis, New Orleans, San Antonio, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. The editors initially chose twelve cities that have had a major investment in Catholic education, and that reflect diversity of ethnicities and geographical areas. They were unsuccessful in enlisting authors to write about New York and Detroit. The number twelve was suggested not for Biblical reasons, but because they wanted to follow up on a well-received 2010 book, Urban Catholic Education: A Tale of Twelve American Cities, which told the story of Catholic education in these cities from colonial times to the end of Vatican II. Those stories were, of course, filled with the “good news” of growth and development. However, paraphrasing the late Paul Harvey, the editors now wanted a follow-up volume that would tell “the rest of the story.”

The editors were even more specific. They asked the authors to address in each of their essays five questions: (1) to what extent did ethnic, demographic, and socio-economic factors affect the trends in these urban schools; (2) to what extent did the bishops, pastors, parents, and women religious remain truly committed to the success of these schools; (3) what impact did the attitudes of non-Catholics have on the trends in these schools; (4) what was the impact of the movement of Catholic communities from urban to suburban neighborhoods; and (5) how did the four factors just mentioned affect the distinctive educational experiences for Catholics in their respective communities? In their preface, the editors highlight six “threads” that hold together the stories in nearly all these cities: the will to survive, the changing patterns of immigration, the variety of settings, adaptability, community, and identity. Educators in each of the cities wove these threads in various ways, but always, in the judgment of the editors, in order to strengthen two areas: the preservation of the religious faith of Catholic children, and preparing them for productive roles in society.

All of the chapters provide informative statistical information. Asking authors whose life-blood was given to Catholic schools in a particular city adds to the anecdotal richness of the accounts. On the other hand, some of these authors, because they have been so close to the story they write, dwelling even within that story, may have found it difficult to offer a candid analysis of what contributing factors caused the decline of Catholic education. Statistics report the declining number of religious, the rise in the cost of tuition, the numbers of schools closed, and the racial and ethnic mixes of students; statistics do not, however, on their own, assist the reader in evaluating what may have gone wrong and who may have failed in leadership roles.

It might be asked how chapters on these cities would have been written by the local bishops, or by the students’ parents. This is not to suggest that the essays are not worth reading; quite the contrary. Some...