I've been reading some news stories and blog posts about last week's presentation on the state of Catholic education by Patricia Weitzel-O'Neill, who is the executive director of the Center for Catholic Education at Boston College's Lynch School of Education. Here's what Catholic News Service reported.

What piqued my curiosity were inflammatory statements by Ms. Weitzel-O'Neill concerning independent Catholic schools, calling them "faux" Catholic schools that are "not approved by any bishop." Apparently to bolster her point (guilt by association?), she said that these institutions are "led by members of the Catholic home-schooling movement."

Now. Ms. Weitzel-O'Neill is clearly a sharp lady, and she offered some good insights and analyses in her talk. Further, even the part on independent schools might have been more nuanced live than has been reported. All the same, her statements are now "out there" and deserve some comment.

(1) Real Time. Parents have to make educational decisions for their children in real-time. In working with Catholic parents around the country, I've found that the educational opportunities presented to Catholic parents varies wildly from state to state, from diocese to diocese, and even from parish to parish. In some cases the Catholic school is "broken" or even no longer open. Parents don't have the luxury of waiting for the Catholic school to reopen or get its act together. In these situations, it seems that smaller, "independent" schools should be welcome as a means of assisting parents in their role--affirmed by Vatican II by the way--as their children's primary educators.

(2) Form over Substance. This leads to my second observation. It seems to me that the shared goal of all concerned parties should be "Catholic education" and not necessarily the preservation of particular Catholic schools. My own children at various times have been homeschooled, while at other times enrolled in public schools, independent Catholic schools, and parochial grade schools and high schools--whatever we judged best for our children, with Catholic formation being the number one priority. When judgment comes, Our Lord will not ask me if I sent my kids to Catholic schools. But He will want to know what I did to pass on the faith to my children.

(3) Let's Be Fair!  Ms. Weitzel-O'Neill cited one independent Catholic school in DC as illustrative of all such schools. An "independent" Catholic school's relationship to its diocese is by its nature a little complicated, but the vast majority of the ones I know about have worked hard to foster vital relationships with their bishop and the local Church as a whole. In fact, these schools are often formed by parents and educators in response to serious concerns as to whether the local Catholic school has adequately maintained its Catholic identity so as to nourish the children's faith--a concern shared by many U.S. bishops. Each such independent school should be judged fairly on its own record of fidelity to the universal and local Church, as well as it academic excellence and other legitimate considerations. Similarly, there are some really good Catholic schools (including one that two of my daughters attend), and each of these should also be judged on its own merits.

(4) Credibility, part one.  I was amazed that in the same talk Ms. Weitzel-O'Neill criticized the Archdiocese of Denver for not admitting into a Catholic school a student who is being raised by lesbian parents. In fact, she considered the acceptance of the gay culture in Catholic schools a "big question." I'm tempted to critique her comments on this further, but it's probably better to give Archbishop Chaput's explanation of the decision and leave it at that.   

(5) Credibility, part two. This talk was part of an event co-sponsored by the National Catholic Reporter, the leading organ of dissent in the country, which calls itself "Catholic" despite its open defiance of its own bishop (and the Pope). Seems like the pot is worse than the proverbial kettle!  Further, courtesy of Catholic Culture, "the National Catholic Reporter had advertised the event as one characterized by the spirit of irenic dialogue: 'Between the ranting of the tea party crowd and the fractious debate in the Halls of Congress, is it possible for people of good will and different opinions (even different political parties) to learn from and with each other?'

Perhaps the NCR's speakers did not the get the memo. As I was writing this, my wife came and looked over my shoulder at one of the articles and said, "'Faux' Catholic schools! Faux? Could she pick a word more insulting?"  So yes, the choice of words was either partisan or at least diplomatically insensitive. Either way, I think we should be less concerned about "turf," and more concerned about the faith and working together to support, defend, and advance the efforts of the teaching Church.