Our ancestors, Catholic immigrants to the United States, built up the largest private school system in the world. They made an enormous sacrifice, scraping pennies together for the formation of their children. Why were they so committed to giving their kids a Catholic education? They understood that education provides the foundation for how to live — how to think, what to value, and how to contribute to the world. Catholic schools were formed to give children a complete formation, setting them up for both success and their eternal happiness. Nonetheless, since the 1960s, Catholic education has been in decline and now an overwhelming majority of Catholic children are formed primarily by the public schools.
If public schools educate the bulk of Catholic children, then the state of the public education bears directly on the future of the Church in the United States.
Authors Mary Rice Hasson and Theresa Farnan make a poignant and pressing case against public education in Get Out Now: Why You Should Pull Your Child from Public School Before It’s Too Late (Regnery Gateway, 2018). Here are their reasons for why public education has become untenable: 1) Public schools are now committed to spreading gender ideology, despite the findings of science; 2) Meant to form citizens, they have eroded patriotism and indoctrinated socialism; 3) The absence of engagement with religion combined with scientism have led to practical atheism and relativism; 4) School systems have been eroding parental rights and marginalizing parents’ role in their child’s education; 5) The steady decline in academic achievement has been furthered by Common Core.
The authors state the urgency of their case: “The risk of harm to a child’s moral and human formation in the public schools today is serious and nearly certain. Few children are intellectually adept enough to detect the illusion being passed off as truth or wise enough to avoid the moral pitfalls that accompany an immersion in ‘sexual health’ or gender ideology” (148). The reality of this claim is hitting home in Colorado right now as the State House considers HB 19 1032, a bill which doubles down on existing standards covering human sexuality for public schools. Its proposed language states:
“Comprehensive human sexuality education . . . also teaches youth about the different relationship models they and their peers may engage in, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender peers, and how to be a safe and healthy partner in a relationship. [It] also fosters youth social-emotional health and well-being by teaching self-acceptance and respect for those whose sexuality, gender, gender expression, or lived experience differ from their own. [It] rejects the use of shame, stigma, fear, and gender norms or gender stereotypes as instructional tools and recognizes that such tactics are counterproductive to youth empowerment and particularly harmful to vulnerable and questioning youth.”
We must reverse the decline of our Catholic schools as we need them now more than ever before! Archbishop Aquila has been leading the way in calling for a renewal of our schools by emphasizing discipleship as our most important task. If our children live as disciples (or students) of Christ, they will know their true identity as children of God, will have the wisdom to see what matters most in the world, and will enter their vocation and work with the courage necessary to thrive in a secular world. The formation of disciples is holistic: entering into a relationship with God, knowing the truth, pursuing what is good by forming virtue, and developing the skills to succeed. Our children need a community of faith and love to reach their fullest potential, as God will help them to be fully alive in Him.
The Church recognizes that parents are the primary educators of their children. The challenges in education today require cooperation to give our children the best education possible. The Archdiocese of Denver is committed to making Catholic education available to all students, an education that is robustly Catholic, provides an integrated liberal arts curriculum, and offers a healthy and holy environment. Our Catholic schools are committed to renewal and growth in the midst of greater need, but parents also must be more involved than in the past. I agree with Hasson and Farnan that it’s time to “look for alternatives. … If you are concerned about your child’s faith, intellectual formation, and patriotism, public schools are working against you. It’s time to get out, now” (177).