Making the Case For Catholic Schools

In recent years progress has been made on improving the affordability of Catholic schools by school voucher programs and tuition tax credits. Currently there are 11 school voucher programs in the United States and nine scholarship tax-credit programs. Some states have more than one program, and in April 2011 the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the practice of allowing Arizona residents to take a tax credit for their donations to school tuition organizations. But panelists at a conference on Nov. 30, organized by Catholic University’s Institute for Policy Research & Catholic Studies and co-sponsored by the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders in San Antonio, urged educational and state Catholic conference leaders to do more to promote the importance of Catholic schools to the wider U.S. public and in building political support for Catholic schools. Frank Butler, president of Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities, said, “We have to do a better job of making our case that we contribute to the common good through our schools.”