This is catholic schools week

[gopiscrap]

we need to fight against private education. I was a product of 8 years of private catholic school education. For all of those 8 years, all the school did was tell us how much better we were than our public school counterparts! We were also taught that our faith was the only right one and that others were precluded from eternal life! The teachers looked with disdain on public school students. On Saturdays kids from the public schools came in to receive religious instruction. Usually at some point during the week when a private school kid was missing something or something was broken, the teachers would lay the blame on the public school students who came in on Saturday's

My wife wound up working for private schools for 14 years. First of all they pay nothing like the public schools. Secondly they treat their employees like shit. One principal told my wife and fellow staff members that "teachers are a dime a dozen" One principal told my wife that she "had no right to be pregnant because it will cost the school extra money for substitutes" There are no employment protections in the private system and this is what this administration wants to go back to. We made it a point to NEVER send our children to a private school. In the 26 years of being in the public system, they each received a world class education.

Private schools are a breeding ground for racists, climate deniers, christo-fascists and those wishing to feed at the corporate trough of privatized education. FUCK ALL PRIVATE SCHOOLS!!!

[HassleCat]

1. Hold them to standards.

Including pay and treatment of their employees.

[gopiscrap]

2. Agreed!

[erinlough]

3. My experience with Lutheran school mirrors this exactly.

Evil places.

[gopiscrap]

4. I have heard that.

[pinboy3niner]

5. I see it as more a matter of fighting FOR public education

That's where the real battle is, as public ed is threatened now as never before.

[logosoco]

6. Whoa! This post brought back memories!

I was one of those public school kids who had to do the Saturday morning classes. Not for long though. My single mother was raising two girls (born in 63 and 64) and trying to get us to get into her Catholic religion, but we fought and fought! Especially those classes that made us miss Saturday morning cartoons! But we would never do any damage to the school. We were scared of church things, because they always seemed to be telling us how bad we were! The only time I envied the Catholic school kids was the day after Halloween, All Saints Day, was a day off for them.
The Catholic church in our community seems to have a decent sized congregation considering the size of the community, but they closed down shortly after the crash of the bush years because people just couldn't afford it anymore.

[gopiscrap]

7. In reality in spite of what the fucking nuns said

it never was the CCD kids that did anything...it was the rich sneaky private school fuckers that were doing the damage

[pinboy3niner]

10. I was raised Catholic and did those classes

Funny thing is that I can't remember a single thing I learned from them. I remember the doughnuts after Mass, but nothing from the classes.

I've learned more about religion from CTyankee's art challenges and essays than I ever learned as a kid in the Catholic church.

I was Catholic until I went to Vietnam. When I was medevac'd back to an Army hospital in San Francisco and the head nurse asked what I wanted to put for 'Religion' on my bed card, I told her, "None." When she asked if I meant 'Decline to state' I told her no. "Just put 'none'."

[logosoco]

13. The art,

architecture and some of the music is about all I see that is likable about the Catholic church. And most of that I learned about when I was in college!

[pinboy3niner]

17. I admired the priests of my childhood parish at Our Lady of Peace

The older Irish rascals with their charming brogues and the younger prelates who were so intent and sincere.

I still admire positive things from the Pope and the good works of some of the Orders. Especially those devoted to the poor and those most vulnerable in society.

And most of my charitable contributions go to our local resource center, which operates a food pantry, homeless shelter, and much more--and is headed by a Protestant minister.

The art is fascinating. And though it has been decades since I visited religious shrines and museums in Europe, I still remember how the beauty and expression and history of some of that stuff could bring me to tears.

As for music, those who know me here will understand why my favorite hymn is 'Occam All Ye Faithful.'

[NCTraveler]

8. I'm a proud agnostic graduate of a Catholic high school.

We also have many private schools that are not affiliated with any religion in my area. While I have some issues with some private schools, I overall think they serve many purposes.

[Retrograde]

9. I spent 12 years in Catholic schools

The first 8 were mediocre, on a par with the local public school. The 4 years of high school were pretty much the best available for girls in the city, and much better than the public high school I would have attended. This being New York State in the 1960s, the high school adhered to the NY Regents standards for core courses (e.g., English, history, math, sciences) and we took the state-wide Regents exams every year. We even had a decent sex education program (OK, it was slanted towards Catholic views on sex before marriage (i.e., NO), but it covered the biological aspects of reproduction in great depth. And the instructor was pregnant, so at least she had some experience). It was a far cry from today's charter schools.

[meaculpa2016]

11. I only spent four years...

in Catholic School. My first nine years were spent in K-8 public schools in New York City.

From 3rd grade until 8th I was in the gifted classes. Then I decided to attend a Catholic school miles from my home because they had a better basketball/baseball program than my local public high school. In spite of spending several years in gifted programs, when I stepped into my first high school classes I was so far behind I thought I would never catch up.

The Marist Brothers would not let me give up. With patience and love they guided me through my first few months and I caught up quickly. I still maintain friendships with classmates and faculty even though I graduated 48 years ago.

Maintaining, supporting and improving our public schools should be our first priority. My wife was an inner city New York Public School teacher for 38 years. It serves no purpose, however, to denigrate those who choose an alternative.

[gopiscrap]

15. As far as the academic part of the education was concerned,

I received a wonderful education, tough and inspiring. That said, private schools exist for only a few reasons: racism, sexism, intolerance, Christo-facism, climate denying, opportunism and a desire for some to feel better than others. Fuck all private schools, home schooling and charters. If everyone had to go to a public school, we would have a much more desire as a nation to fund them properly!!!

[meaculpa2016]

30. I attended a privatate parochial school...

to play basketball and baseball. I also ran track for two seasons. It was MY decision at 13 years old.

My parents would much rather I attended the local public high school and saved them the $180 per year in tuition. Even at that rate it was a burden for my father who worked in a sweat shop for 25 cents per garment.

So to call me or them racist, sexist, Christo-Fascist is bigotry of the worst kind.

I now live in a community with excellent public schools yet some of my neighbors choose non-public schools for reasons which have nothing to do with your bigoted and narrow prejudice. I would not impugn their motives, but you--of course--know better.

[rug]

35. +

[Caliman73]

12. We do need to make sure that tax dollars do not go for religious training

That said, I went to Catholic Schools for 11 years (no room in first grade). I was never taught that I was better or that anyone other than Catholics were precluded from eternal life. There was never any animosity toward public school students expressed by faculty or students from my perspective (except when a local street gang wanted to fight the boys in my class).

It really depends on who was running the school. We had a string of really good pastors and strict but supportive principals. I had one pastor who was a fire and brimstone guy, but we ignored him.

Private schools are schools that choose not to follow the state mandated curriculum and teach things contrary to the separation between church and state and thus, should not receive public funding. Otherwise, experiences vary.

[GeorgeGist]

14. Really?

[sarisataka]

16. My daughter will attend a Catholic High School next year

The study body is 53% white (non-Hispanic) vs 61% white (non-Hispanic) for the area. 37% of the students are not Catholic, 8% non-Christian and 2% non-religious. EDIT> forgot to add they currently have three transgender students and expect that number to go up next year.

Every student takes a minimum of two years of a foreign language and over 75% take four years. Non-religious community service work is required every year, 20 hour minimum.

The four year graduation rate is 98.3%. Senior class graduation rate is 100% for the last seven years.

Every Junior takes the ACT. 100% achieved a score of 25+ (rated as Selective, colleges admitting top 25% of high school graduating class); 78% scored 27+ (rated as Highly Selective, colleges admitting top 10% of high school graduating class). The school's goal is to have 100% of scores 27+ within 3 years. 99% of graduates were accepted to their first choice of college or university, including Harvard, M.I.T. and Oxford.

So I say fuck bigoted generalizations.

[gopiscrap]

18. and just think how much better the public schools would be

with those students in there, those parents involved and the money spent on privatized ed going to fund programs for the general public. Private schools are for the wealthy and the elite who don't give a fuck about anyone but themsleves

[sarisataka]

23. I never knew I was

a wealthy and elite- wow, thanks for pointing that out.

My wife has worked in the public school system. Parent involvement? hah- 90+% of parents look on school as a babysitting service. She was in behavioral development, working with kids who had serious learning and social issues. Most parents never bothered to sign progress sheets, attend meeting or return calls to see if they are even receiving progress sheets. Some would call when their child received poor grades but once assured they will progress because "no child left behind" it became a nonissue. Needless to say those children do not have good, nor long high school experiences. What is especially sad is we have a good public school system here. I can't imagine what places without the support we give public schools here.

If I can get a superior education for my children at an extra cost, I will consider that money well spent even if I pay off loans for the next twenty years. I will also continue to support every public education levy and fundraiser because I think society as a whole benefits from education.

[gopiscrap]

24. My wife has worked 16 years in private and 20 years in public school

and she has found the same level of parent involvement (with out the private school attitude) plus they treat her like a professional employee in the public school instead of like a hired servant. And they pay her a reasonable salary. After 16 years in catholic education my wife was making 23k her first year in public education she jumped to 48 and is not at 77K right now she would be making 51k in some catholic school al the while they tell they don't have the money to pay the staff.

[starshine00]

19. wow I was expecting tales of brutality

since I have heard so very many people talk about being brutalized by nuns in Catholic schools

[gopiscrap]

20. trust me we were

I still twitch when I see a woman dressed in black and white. We had Attila the Nun and Boom Boom Bernadine clouting us all the time.

[starshine00]

21. so sorry to hear that

I am so glad you made it through with your sanity in tact, many were not so lucky

[gopiscrap]

22. yeah everytime they were about to hit me I always said:

"Sister, I think I want to be a priest!" about a third of the time that stopped them in their tracks

[pinboy3niner]

25. The waterboarders are amateurs compared to nuns with rulers

I was spared, but my older brother went to a Catholic high school for a year or two. In his case, though, he didn't have the nuns. He had the Brothers--Catholic monks. He transferred to a public HS, then dropped out and joined the Marines. The DIs may have been a relief after the monks.

[gopiscrap]

28. No kidding

[Warpy]

26. Most fellow atheists I know IRL survived Catholic school, as did I

I've often been tempted to call them institutions dedicated to the production of atheists.

Those of us who went to Catholic school in the 50s ran into Sister Mary Torquemada. Once nuns abandoned the mediaeval dress and teaching for real life help for the poorest, they turned into quite nice women.

It was too late, though. I don't believe a word of it.

[snacker]

27. You are so right!

I went to Catholic school for 8 years. We were never taught science in those 8 years...only colored pictures of Jesus with plants, Jesus with animals, Jesus with planets, etc.. When we got to public high school, they had to offer a general science class to all Catholic school students in an effort for us to catch up.

[pnwmom]

29. I went to a wonderful Catholic high school, but I don't think public funds

should support it or any private or religious school.

My daughter was in public school till eighth grade, but the public school wasn't able to be flexible enough to meet her needs, and a private school was -- so we switched.

I'm glad we had the option, but I think private schools should be supported with private money (including private scholarship funds), not public.

[Mrs. Overall]

31. I had a very different experience in Catholic high school in the late 70s / early 80s

My Catholic high school was extremely progressive. My parents were Republicans and it was through going to Catholic high school that I decided to register as a Democrat when I turned 18.

Catholic school was my first exposure to social justice, world religions, community involvement. My school was co-ed, and the nuns and brothers who taught there were amazingly liberal--our masses were often outdoors and everyone was invited to receive communion, whether Catholic, Protestant, or any belief. I also had a wonderful world religions class in which a Buddhist priest came and talked to us as well as a prominent Islamic woman in the community. We had food drives, toy drives, and we volunteered at what was then called the "Special Olympics." We also gathered items for the orphanage in Mexico that the nuns were connected to and some students went on trips to the orphanage to work. We were encouraged and taught how to write letters to our state reps and senators. My parents were horrified that I wrote a letter to Ronald Reagan regarding the Cuban refugee crisis. My dad was so mad he threatened to send me to Florida to work at the shelters there. I told him I would love to and waited for the plane ticket, which of course, never materialized. Several of the nuns' convents were "sanctuaries" for families who had escaped the US backed horrors going on in El Salvador in the early 80s.

This school was also ethnically diverse and scholarships were given so that all students could afford to attend. My experience there completely changed my life--I became very politically active and involved in the "liberation theology" movement and was eventually inspired to be a teacher. And, most importantly, I escaped the entrenched Republicanism in my family.

I have nothing but love and respect for the nuns who taught me--nuns who are still counter to Rome in their progressive ideals.

On Edit: I agree with pwnmom in the post above mine: I am not in favor of public money financing private education. And my children had positive experiences in public schools. I just wanted to point out that not all Catholic education is horrible.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

32. I believe in fully funding public schools

and not using any public fund for any kind of private school, but no, I don't think we should fight against private education, religious or secular.

Both of my daughters were in Catholic school for 13 years, and they were never taught that they were better than anyone else. The school was very diverse - racially, socio-economically and religiously - and at their K-8 school, more than 30% of the students received financial aid from the school/parish/diocese so that they could attend.

Truly sorry that you had such a bad experience, but it certainly wasn't the same experience our family had.

[rug]

33. Apparently you never learned anecdotal evidence is not evidence.

You must have been absent when they discussed Francis Bacon.

[hunter]

34. My first measure of a religious school is their biology classes. Evolution or not?

"Not" means it's a crappy school. Most "Christian" schools are crappy anti-intellectual hell holes.

Religions that have a strong intellectual tradition don't reject science.

Here in the U.S.A., in Fundamentalist Christian strongholds, the Catholic schools are more likely than the public schools to teach evolutionary biology and adhere to the curriculum requirements of authentic colleges and universities.

Even in solidly blue Democratic California I'm often shocked by the sheer numbers and intensity of creationists and "intelligent design" fanatics trying to infiltrate the public school curriculum. We had one local Creationist classroom-visiting "fossil guy" who didn't back down for any other reason than that I was bigger than him, no matter my formal and informal training as an evolutionary biologist.

The Catholic schools may attribute evolutionary biology to some vague sort of "God's way" but they don't deny it. When these kids are admitted to college they are not going to be shocked when their professors use big numbers and math equations far beyond the comprehension and experience of those who wrote Genesis.

I was raised in a fiercely intellectual Christian tradition. It always seemed to me that the Fundamentalist's God was very small and petty.

[HoneyBadger]

36. I never went, but plenty in my family did

The Catholic school education is subpar in my opinion, based on college exmissions. There are exceptions, the school that Lady Gaga went to being one of the few.

[UTUSN]

37. k r