Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemaitre
It is probably the case that most students who get vouchers go to Catholic parochial schools. I graduated from a Jesuit run Catholic high school and believe that the Catholic schools are to be lauded for their strict discipline and academic rigor that often produces superior results with less resources compared to the public schools. It should be remembered though that parochial schools are private schools and do not have the obligation that the public schools have of providing an education to every student. Parochial schools do not have to accept every student who applies and they do not have to keep every student that they enroll. My youngest son went to a fairly exclusive Catholic school for a year. Before he was accepted he had to take an IQ test, even though he was only six years old, to be sure he could meet their standards. And, when he once let the ADHD that afflicted him at the time cause a disruption in class it was made clear to me that his continued enrollment depended on no further such incidents occurring.
Since Catholic schools can choose the students with the highest IQs and not accept the dullards as well as being able to retain the best performers and send the less able back to the public schools it is not surprising that their students perform better on standardized tests and have higher graduation rates than public schools who essentially have to take whoever shows up on their doorstep.
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The Catholic schools in our diocese do
NOT require an IQ test for admission. All that is required is that the parents desire a Catholic school education. You don't even have to be Catholic, although non-Catholics are NOT excused from religious instruction or mandatory mass attendance.
Parents must pay tuition but there are scholarships for parents who can show genuine need. There are dress codes (uniforms are required) and behavioral standards are high. Academic standards are also high and it is possible to flunk out if a student does not meet the academic or behavioral standards.
That said, I attended a public school from kindergarten through high school and never got less than the highest grade. I earned a full academic scholarship to college where I am doing the same kind of work. Many of my fellow students did not do very well at all. Although they graduated, they are virtually illiterate, even though their teachers genuinely tried to inflict an education on them, up to the point where it was obviously wasted effort.
Why the difference? My mother had high expectations for my academic performance and my behavior. Failure to meet her standards resulted in the application of a leather belt to my little tail. I loved my mother and I feared that belt. And I understood that the discipline was for my benefit and that she did it because she loved me.
I keep pointing this out. It's the parents. It's all up to the parents.
Note to all those little lambs Do what's right...or else
__________________
Proud parents of our own "Daddy's Little Girls"
I heard Jesus He drank wine and I bet we'd get along just fine.
He could calm a storm and heal the blind and
I bet He'd understand a heart like mine.
Miranda Lambert
What works in Education
