Catholic School or Public School?

[Lisa loves Pooh]

You're there for Christ, but you don't give to the first collection? That first collection is what keeps a roof over that place so you can be there for Christ in the first place.

This is what happens if they nixed the first collection at our church:

No office staff
No electricity
No running water
No maintenance
No religious ed
No ministries

Nada-zilch-zippo.

I suppose you can go to church for Christ--but without that first collection--it would be awful difficult to have a place to worship.

A church--catholic or otherwise--would be wise to disclose their finances in an annual statement. Ours does.

If you don't want to give--that is fine. But don't be fooled that all that comes for free.

ETA: Often you will have to pay more in tuition at the school for being a non-contributing parishioner. The reason--the parish supplements tuition at the school in most cases where this "rule" is in place. The monthly required contribution is small and for some--much cheaper than paying the more expensive tuition.

 

[Christine]

I

ETA: Often you will have to pay more in tuition at the school for being a non-contributing parishioner. The reason--the parish supplements tuition at the school in most cases where this "rule" is in place. The monthly required contribution is small and for some--much cheaper than paying the more expensive tuition.

As a non-Catholic, I believe I pay about $500 more per year than the parishoners do. However, my Catholic friend has to "give" that much at church or she doesn't get her "paper" signed to get her DD back in the school for the year. She probably ends up paying as much as I do for tuition; however, some of hers will be tax deductible as it is given to the church.

 

[The Mayor]

I just saw this thread and have only read the OP...I chose catholic school...my wife and I both went to a catholic grammar school and then a public high school and even though it was in a small town I noticed the difference in teaching and discipline (I had Nuns)...my children (now out of college) both went to catholic grammar and high schools...my daughter went on to a catholic college...looking back now both of them are happy with our decision to keep them in the catholic school system, especially high school...our public high school has made national news with a large scale drug problem (Oxycontin & Heroin)...all during the time my children would have been enrolled...now I'm not saying there wern't drugs in the catholoc schools because there were but not to the degree that they were in the public high school and the catholic school could just expel those students and not just suspend them...we are also a devout catholic family...both of us raised that way...and our children have been raised that way and continue to attend Mass...but we did consider both options when our children started grammar school and then high school and felt the catholic school system was better for our family.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

As a non-Catholic, I believe I pay about $500 more per year than the parishoners do. However, my Catholic friend has to "give" that much at church or she doesn't get her "paper" signed to get her DD back in the school for the year. She probably ends up paying as much as I do for tuition; however, some of hers will be tax deductible as it is given to the church.

I never implied otherwise.

The implication that the church is wasting money or doing something sinister with it is why I addressed it.

Our school monitors "attendance" at church. That bothers me. But then I don't send my kids to the school anyway. But our church has direct deposit and if you used it, you still had to submit an empty envelope.

 

[my4kids]

This is what happens if they nixed the first collection at our church:

No office staff
No electricity
No running water
No maintenance
No religious ed
No ministries

Nada-zilch-zippo.

I suppose you can go to church for Christ--but without that first collection--it would be awful difficult to have a place to worship.

A church--catholic or otherwise--would be wise to disclose their finances in an annual statement. Ours does.

If you don't want to give--that is fine. But don't be fooled that all that comes for free.

ETA: Often you will have to pay more in tuition at the school for being a non-contributing parishioner. The reason--the parish supplements tuition at the school in most cases where this "rule" is in place. The monthly required contribution is small and for some--much cheaper than paying the more expensive tuition.

At our parish schoold that are full to the brim, you don't even get accepted to the school unless you are a contributing parishioner. They are a parish school - so they are there foremost for the needs of the parish. They can't tell you are a member of the parish, unless they have a weekly envelope from you with your name on it to show you are there each week to support the parish. They accept people in this order :
CONTRIBUTING parishioners
parishioners
Catholic non-parishioners
all other non-catholics
Our schools have such a huge number of contributing parishioners that want to go, there is usually no room left for anyone else. So if you are set on sending your kid to Catholic schools, you may want to look into this.

 

[freckles and boo]

Ok, can someone please explain something to me. Most of my co-workers that attended Parochial Schools all of their lives don't even attend mass on a regular basis now. I mean, I thought that Catholic School was supposed to instill a deeper faith in people (as well as educating them) Now, this is just my thought. When I hear that people are planning to definitely send their kids to Catholic school (because they themselves attended them all of their lives), I always thought that these people were deeply spiritual, church attending folks. But when I get to know them better, most have distanced themselves from the church, but insist that their kids have a Catholic School education.


Can someone explain to me the strong need for people to send their children to Parochial School if it isn't for the religion? I'm not being sarcastic, I really am curious.

Thanks!

I know more people like this (non-practicings who send their kids to Catholic schools) than people who attend regularly. I believe it is tribal. It is ritualized and it is part of many people's culture, which is not a bad thing. My husband is a product of this type of upbringing. It may seem hypocritical from the outside (which is where I sit), but it is really only a problem when people act superior because their kids are in parochial school and somehow are "protected" from outside influences. I think some people believe it will bring a deeper faith to their children. However, as others have pointed out, that comes from standards and expectations of the parents.

 

[Christine]

I never implied otherwise.

The implication that the church is wasting money or doing something sinister with it is why I addressed it.

Our school monitors "attendance" at church. That bothers me. But then I don't send my kids to the school anyway. But our church has direct deposit and if you used it, you still had to submit an empty envelope.

Lisa,
I never *thought* you were implying anything. I was just reading your comment about how the church handles tuition in your experience and thought I would just add my own experience to the mix. I wasn't arguing, agreeing, disagreeing--just adding a comment.

 

[my4kids]

Lisa,
I never *thought* you were implying anything. I was just reading your comment about how the church handles tuition in your experience and thought I would just add my own experience to the mix. I wasn't arguing, agreeing, disagreeing--just adding a comment.

I read that as Lisa was referring to KtBattista who said she won't give to the first collection (that is the collection that goes to the church) and from the rest of KTBattista's post it gave an implication that she didn't want to give them money because she doesn't like the Church leadership, which did imply that she thought it would be used in a sinister way.

 

[ilovejack02]

Ok, can someone please explain something to me. Most of my co-workers that attended Parochial Schools all of their lives don't even attend mass on a regular basis now. I mean, I thought that Catholic School was supposed to instill a deeper faith in people (as well as educating them) Now, this is just my thought. When I hear that people are planning to definitely send their kids to Catholic school (because they themselves attended them all of their lives), I always thought that these people were deeply spiritual, church attending folks. But when I get to know them better, most have distanced themselves from the church, but insist that their kids have a Catholic School education.


Can someone explain to me the strong need for people to send their children to Parochial School if it isn't for the religion? I'm not being sarcastic, I really am curious.

Thanks!

I send mine because of A) Our public schools here are HORRIBLE!!
B) I would like them to go to a faith based school, would pefer Episcopalian, which is what we are, but cant afford it. Catholic schools around here are the next best thing.
I just want the faith based school for the most part, there are a few REALLY good private schools around here, but most are too far for me to get to, plus also on the level of pricing are the Episcopal schools.
My youngest is in a really good Baptist preschool because the local Catholic school doesnt have one.

 

[Christine]

I read that as Lisa was referring to KtBattista who said she won't give to the first collection (that is the collection that goes to the church) and from the rest of KTBattista's post it gave an implication that she didn't want to give them money because she doesn't like the Church leadership, which did imply that she thought it would be used in a sinister way.

Well, she quoted me.

 

[ilovejack02]

I know more people like this (non-practicings who send their kids to Catholic schools) than people who attend regularly. I believe it is tribal. It is ritualized and it is part of many people's culture, which is not a bad thing. My husband is a product of this type of upbringing. It may seem hypocritical from the outside (which is where I sit), but it is really only a problem when people act superior because their kids are in parochial school and somehow are "protected" from outside influences. I think some people believe it will bring a deeper faith to their children. However, as others have pointed out, that comes from standards and expectations of the parents.

I attended all girl Catholic school and let me tell you we were just as rotten as the public school kids . We were a small school, so I will say honestly our problems with drugs were few and far between, but when I finally switched to our large public high school, it wasnt too bad there either. Our issues were drinking and that was a problem in both schools and prob had to do with the cajun community we lived in. Us Cajun love a good party. I dont believe it will bring a deeper faith to my kids, I just like that they are being exposed to the teachings of the church in their daily school life. I dont care if its Baptist or Catholic or Episcopalian. Heck the Jewish school in our town is REALLY good and I would be happy to send my little guys there, but with traffic it would take me an hour one way to get there.

 

[kdibattista]

This is what happens if they nixed the first collection at our church:

No office staff
No electricity
No running water
No maintenance
No religious ed
No ministries

Nada-zilch-zippo.

I suppose you can go to church for Christ--but without that first collection--it would be awful difficult to have a place to worship.

A church--catholic or otherwise--would be wise to disclose their finances in an annual statement. Ours does.

If you don't want to give--that is fine. But don't be fooled that all that comes for free.

ETA: Often you will have to pay more in tuition at the school for being a non-contributing parishioner. The reason--the parish supplements tuition at the school in most cases where this "rule" is in place. The monthly required contribution is small and for some--much cheaper than paying the more expensive tuition.

I get that... honestly. If I knew where the money was going then I would have no problem contributing but apart of me is still bitter with the way money has been spent in the past. That is why I contribute willingly to the second collection because I am comfortable with where it goes. I will check to see if we have an annual report... I have only seen weekly collection totals in the bulletin. If we do get the report and I can see where it goes then I would certainly be willing to change my stance.

 

[my4kids]

I get that... honestly. If I knew where the money was going then I would have no problem contributing but apart of me is still bitter with the way money has been spent in the past. That is why I contribute willingly to the second collection because I am comfortable with where it goes. I will check to see if we have an annual report... I have only seen weekly collection totals in the bulletin. If we do get the report and I can see where it goes then I would certainly be willing to change my stance.

All Catholic parishes will gladly give you a copy of the annual report.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I get that... honestly. If I knew where the money was going then I would have no problem contributing but apart of me is still bitter with the way money has been spent in the past. That is why I contribute willingly to the second collection because I am comfortable with where it goes. I will check to see if we have an annual report... I have only seen weekly collection totals in the bulletin. If we do get the report and I can see where it goes then I would certainly be willing to change my stance.

Keep in mind they may operate on a fiscal year.

We get our annual report in the summer.

You might be able to ask for their most recent copy of the year.