Public Funding for Private Schools: The Current Landscape. 'A Reflection on the 2013 Catholic Higher Education Collaborative Conference on Catholic School Financing'

On September 22-24, 2013, the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Catholic Education hosted a conference on Catholic school financing on the Notre Dame campus, which drew experts on the subject from across the United States. This author, because of her roles as a Board Member of the Board of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of Chicago, chair of the Legal Affairs Committee of the Board, and member of the Executive Committee, was most interested in learning about public funding options that might be pursued for Chicago's Catholic schools. A recent study showed, not surprisingly, that the financial picture is worrisome for some of their schools, with operating expenses being much higher than in the era when schools were staffed primarily by members of religious orders. Some parishes are unable to provide the levels of financial support that they historically allocated to the parish school. Parents are sometimes unable to afford a tuition rate that would realistically cover school costs. Conference panel presentations offered useful information about the progress of school choice initiatives happening in various states, and the public funding sessions of the conference identified some strategies for building support for school choice. The conference emphasized coalition-building as critically important in states that have been convinced to adopt school choice legislation.