By Patrick Haggarty, Ed.D.
Superintendent, Diocesan Catholic Schools

This summer, a friend asked a simple question: “Why do we send our children to school?” I could think of many answers, but ultimately I decided that we send our children to school because it’s a sound and proactive investment in the future. Supporting education is likely one of the best ventures we can make because it offers a potential return that exceeds the initial expense of time, energy, and resources.

Parents are not the only “investors” in this process. Education relies on support of parents who do not yet have school-aged children, senior adults whose children have graduated from school, and folks who don’t have children. It is a community investment wherever there is a population large enough to support a school.

This means that nearly every town, hamlet or village with 100 or more children living in the area has a dedicated public school district. This system, as we know it, was established because more than 200 years ago, our country’s leadership determined that an educated citizenry is a very good thing for developing an effective democratic society. Hence, they designed and built a public school system and corresponding tax structure that required everyone in the community to support the school.

Beginning when children turn five or six, the community starts the educational investment process – with the hopes that in 13 years, it will pay off. For the most part, it is a successful program. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics 2009 report, the American K-12 public school system is educating more than 55 million youth and young adults, of which 65 percent will enroll in college immediately following their high school graduation, and 58 percent of that cohort will earn a bachelor’s degree in six or fewer years.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau and the Institute for Higher Education Policy, the average college graduate will earn 75 percent more than a high school graduate. They are less likely to rely on government financial assistance or be involved in criminal activity. More importantly, those with college degrees tend to give back to their communities in terms of charitable giving, community service and church attendance. Investing in education works.

And it also works for the Catholic school system. Years ago, the leaders of our American Catholic community decided that one of the best ways to ensure the future of our Catholic faith was to build a Catholic school system. Today there are more than 2.5 million students enrolled in its 6,386 elementary schools and 1,203 high schools (USCCB). Each of these schools maintains a learning environment of academic rigor that includes formal instruction in the Catholic faith. And they tend to be excellent educational institutions.

In Montana, our Catholic schools are consistently ranked in the top 10 schools regarding academic performance, as measured by the MontCAS standardized assessment (OPI) and they earn higher than average marks on the A.C.R.E. exam. (A.C.R.E. is the Assessment of Catechesis and Religious Education provided by the National Catholic Educational Association to measure students’ proficiency in the understanding of the Pillars of Catechism of the Catholic Church). When we take into account that more than 90 percent of our Catholic high school students attend college, as compared to the 65 percent of the public school students, the positive influence that Catholic schools provide for our democratic society and the Church is statistically significant.

And, just as the public schools must rely on the local community to support their schools, the same can be said for Catholic schools. We also need community support. It is simply not possible to expect the parents of students attending a Catholic school to be the only ones supporting the school. If that were the case, our Catholic schools would have closed many years ago. Instead, we have a 130+ year tradition of supporting Catholic education in the Diocese of Helena and are looking forward to 130 more!

Having a Catholic school available for students is both an incredible privilege and an important community responsibility. Although we cannot “tax” the community, we can remind everyone that Catholic schools are a noteworthy component of our past, present and future and as such, it is our mutual responsibility to assure their continued success. This will only happen when the entire Catholic community – including parents of Catholic school students, parents of younger children, senior adults whose children have graduated from school and folks who don’t have children – invests in Catholic education.

For more information about the diocesan schools, visit www.diocesehelena.org/schools.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 25, No. 7, July 17, 2009.