{"id":24141,"date":"2013-06-23T21:03:53","date_gmt":"2013-06-24T01:03:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/?p=24141"},"modified":"2016-09-30T16:03:30","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T20:03:30","slug":"as-catholic-schools-close-minorities-see-a-lifeline-slipping-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2013\/06\/as-catholic-schools-close-minorities-see-a-lifeline-slipping-away\/","title":{"rendered":"As Catholic Schools Close, Minorities See a Lifeline Slipping Away"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From the New York Times:\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Sonia Sotomayor lives in Washington, but she has never forgotten her roots in the Bronx. On a drizzly March afternoon, she returned to Blessed Sacrament School, where she began her celebrated, if improbable, journey from her South Bronx childhood to the Supreme Court. But instead of a joyous reunion, it was more of a valedictory for her and the children \u2014 the school is closing for good.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m really upset,\u201d Justice Sotomayor told a fourth-grade class. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to say goodbye. I won\u2019t tell you it\u2019s easy. I won\u2019t lie to you.\u201d<\/p>\n

The children drew close and peppered her with questions: Why is the archdiocese closing the school? Doesn\u2019t it know their parents worked hard? Why couldn\u2019t it come up with the money? One girl, crying, got up and slumped into Justice Sotomayor\u2019s embrace. The justice, her voice steady and reassuring, reminded the children to cherish the good times and move confidently ahead. But later, she, too, revealed her pain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe worst thing is, these kids could lose their faith in the adults around them,\u201d she said in an interview inside her old fifth-grade classroom. \u201cChildren need to feel secure. This makes it worse. These kids are going to carry this trauma with them for the rest of their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Justice Sotomayor\u2019s emotions are shared by a generation of accomplished Latino and black professionals and public servants who went from humble roots to successful careers thanks to Catholic schools. But they fear that a springboard that has helped numerous poor and working-class minority students achieve rewarding lives is eroding as Catholic schools close their doors in the face of extraordinary financial challenges and demographic shifts.<\/p>\n

Since 2011, the Archdiocese of New York has closed 56 schools, the vast majority of them elementary schools, including 13 in the Bronx. Now 219 schools remain in\u00a0the education system<\/a>. Blessed Sacrament is one of 26 schools closing this year throughout the archdiocese, which covers the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island and seven counties north of New York City.<\/p>\n

According to archdiocesan figures, enrollment in elementary and high schools shrank to 75,875 this year from 95,837 in 2006. While the Latino percentage of total enrollment increased during that period, the proportion of black elementary school students dropped precipitously, to 17 percent of enrollment from 31 percent.<\/p>\n

Catholic high schools, which routinely boast of near 100 percent college admissions for their graduates, are worried that they will face harder times with fewer parochial schools to feed their ranks. And minority alumni are increasingly alarmed that New York will be deprived of a future generation of professionals \u2014 like lawyers, doctors and executives \u2014 to contribute economic and cultural vitality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Catholic schools have been a pipeline to opportunity for generations,\u201d said Justice Sotomayor, who was raised by her mother after her father, an alcoholic, died. \u201cIt gave people like me the chance to be successful. It provided me and my brother with an incredible environment of security. Not every school provides that.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read more.\u00a0<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From the New York Times:\u00a0 Sonia Sotomayor lives in Washington, but she has never forgotten her roots in the Bronx. On a drizzly March afternoon, she returned to Blessed Sacrament School, where she began her celebrated, if improbable, journey from her South Bronx childhood to the Supreme Court. But instead of a joyous reunion, it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,45],"tags":[11172],"class_list":["post-24141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-ripped-from-the-headlines","tag-education"],"yoast_head":"\nAs Catholic Schools Close, Minorities See a Lifeline Slipping Away<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"From the New York Times:\u00a0 Sonia Sotomayor lives in Washington, but she has never forgotten her roots in the Bronx. 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