November 26, 2012
You didn't need to pay much attention to the election to pick up on the fact that the demographics of our nation are changing. Winning key demographic segments played a part in the outcome of not only the Presidential contest but also races for the Senate, House, and various ballot issues.
Those of us in Catholic education are well aware of our own rapidly changing demographics.
Men and women of my generation recall elementary school years with sisters followed by middle and high school years with priests or brothers or sisters. Then came the great exodus. Now, although we are a Xaverian Brothers Sponsored School, we have no Xaverian brothers work here. We are blessed to have Fr. Barry Gross as teacher and chaplain; a majority of our peer schools envy us for having a priest on staff. The personnel trend that began in the 1960's has today's Catholic schools overwhelmingly staffed by lay men and women.
That shift is part of history. More crucial to our future is how we understand and respond to the demographic trends of the moment. Recently, two pieces of information highlighted this issue for me.
First, in early November I attended a presentation at the Annual Conference of the Association of Independent Maryland and DC Schools (AIMS) in Baltimore. Dr. Pearl Rock Kane of Columbia University shared information about the racial and ethnic diversity of public schools versus independent schools. One of her slides showed that African American students make up 6.1% of the population of independent schools and 15.0% in public schools. Here at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, we have 16.9% African American students. The next slide really grabbed my attention. Dr. Kane showed that Hispanic American students make up 3.8% of the independent school population and 23.3% in public schools. That's almost a 20% difference. At Good Counsel, 8.5% of our students are Hispanic American.
The second piece of information came across my desk around the same time as the first. The latest research report from the highly respected Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life showed that for the first time Protestants fell below 50% of the population. While the percentage of most Christian denominations is in decline, Catholics are holding steady at 24% of the US population. However, about a third of Catholics, mostly white, have left the Church in recent decades; the overall Catholic percentage holds steady because of the influx of Hispanic Catholics.
We Catholic schools have to have our antennae up on this demographic trend. We are proud of our past and our present. We know we do a great job of promoting excellence in academics, the arts, and athletics. We provide a values-based education. We promote service. We teach our Catholic faith. The question we must ask is obvious: Do our Catholic schools speak meaningfully to the steadily growing demographic?
Figuring out how to engage Hispanic American families will be crucial to the survival of independent schools, most especially Catholic schools.
I welcome your thoughts on this issue.