Catholic Schools

Cardinal Justin Rigali yesterday said he was "very optimistic" about the future of Catholic education in the Philadelphia Archdiocese after naming a Blue Ribbon Commission to produce a plan to strengthen the school system. Rigali said he expects the commission's work to create "a renewed enthusiasm" for Catholic education, rather than creating fear among parents that more Catholic schools would close. Catholic schools in the Archdiocese have seen declining enrollments for more than a decade.

RE TED Farrell's Feb. 14 letter: The number of high schools nationally that graduate less than 50 percent of their students has increased by 70 percent. We have more than our share in Philadelphia, and they contribute disproportionately to rising crime in our city. Catholic schools are a part of the solution. With more than 85,000 students in the Delaware Valley, impressive graduation rates and academic results, Catholic schools provide an alternative to our public schools.

CHILDREN with access to Catholic schools have an opportunity to receive an education that develops confidence to succeed in school, on the job and in life. Dan Geringer's Aug. 19 article discussed the possibility of consolidating some of the Catholic high schools in the city, which has proven a successful alternative to leaving a community without a parochial school. Merging schools helps sustain quality education and supports a system that produces qualified high-school graduates, the vast majority of whom go on to higher education.

I'D like to thank Dan Geringer and the Daily News for the moving piece about 7-year-old David Atkins and St. Martin de Porres Interparochial School. In light of the tragic murder of David's father, the school has gone above and beyond in helping his family rebuild their lives. The support provided by the school and its member parishes illustrates the critical role that Catholic schools play in our neighborhoods. While the primary focus is on education, we can't discount the importance of the lessons in human compassion that are ever-present in these schools.

This could be the year that parish schools in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia end an era of declining enrollment caused by a drop in the birthrates, population shifts and rising tuition. When schools open Wednesday throughout the five-county archdiocese, officials expect about the same number of students to enter the 235 parish elementary schools as left in June. This modest improvement after years of decline is cause for hope. Total enrollment in local Catholic schools dropped from 138,595 in 1985 to 125,135 in the school year that ended in June - a 9.7 percent decline.

Some 25,000 Philadelphia children could arrive at private and parochial schools with vouchers in hand by September 1996 under Gov. Ridge's school- choice plan. Will the Archdiocese of Philadelphia be ready? For the last 25 years, Catholic schools have been on a steady decline - the result of increased costs and declining enrollments. Schools have closed. Buildings have been sold. Teachers have remained among the lowest paid. An influx of new students would mean having to find space, hire more teachers - and pay for both.

The superintendent of schools for the Diocese of Syracuse, N.Y., has been tapped to become the secretary for Catholic education in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The archdiocese and Faith in the Future announced Thursday that Christopher Mominey, 42, was selected to succeed Richard McCarron, the longtime secretary, who retired earlier this spring. Mominey will start July 1. He also will hold the position of chief operating officer at Faith in the Future - a foundation that manages the archdiocese's 17 Catholic high schools and three special-education schools.

The Philadelphia School Partnership will announce Monday that it's giving the Faith in the Future Foundation a $600,000 planning grant to aid the eight Catholic high schools in the city. The money will help the foundation develop strategies to increase enrollment at each of the those Catholic high schools and to design accountability systems that will help them collect and report data about their students' academic performance. Catholic high schools in the city enroll about 6,200 students, but have room for nearly twice that number.

By B. G. Kelley La Salle is the local darling of March Madness. The tiny Catholic college in Olney was the next-to-last school selected for the tournament and now has won three games in five days to make it into the so-called Sweet Sixteen. Remarkable for a small Catholic college these days, considering the recruiting advantages of the wealthy mega-universities that play both big-time football and basketball. The cash cow that is college football televising rights has enabled schools such as Indiana, Michigan, Michigan State, Florida, Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, and Ohio State - which play in the big and powerful football conferences - to recruit the majority of McDonald's All-American high school basketball players.

PHA cans 82 workers The Philadelphia Housing Authority is laying off 82 workers because of a $32 million cut in federal funding due to the so-called "sequester. " "Our hands are tied. This agency cannot continue serving the city most vulnerable without federal dollars," Kelvin A. Jeremiah, PHA's president and chief executive, said in a news release. "These cuts were necessary in order to prevent any resident from becoming homeless. " The savings amount to nearly $7.2 million, PHA said.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has an agreement of sale with Christopher Columbus Charter School to sell a century-old property in South Philadelphia, the former Sacred Heart of Jesus parochial school, an archdiocesan spokeswoman said. The property on Moyamensing Avenue near Reed Street in Pennsport, will be sold for about $2.7 million, according to a source familiar with negotiations. Sacred Heart school was one of several Catholic schools in the Philadelphia area closed by the Archdiocese in June.

WHILE the number of district-run and parochial schools shrinks and the city's charter-school population booms, a group of education advocates is looking at a plan to implement a single, citywide enrollment process. The result could alter Philadelphia's educational landscape. The plan, still in the early stages, would involve students' filling out one application that would place them on lists at district, charter and parochial schools in the city, said Miles Wilson, director of the Great Schools Compact for the Philadelphia Schools Partnership.

It probably has been a long time since anyone was thrilled with an NIT bid. The NCAA tournament is a national institution and anything less than a bid is a disappointment for a team. But St. Joseph's problem in its gut-wrenching 63-61 loss to St. John's in an NIT opener Tuesday night before a surprisingly small crowd of 3,148 at Hagan Arena wasn't about emotion, coach Phil Martelli insisted, it was about talent. "I was very emphatic with my team about the excitement level," he said afterward.

NEW YORK - Fuquan Edwin scored 17 points, including the final six in regulation, and Seton Hall rallied past South Florida, 46-42, in overtime Tuesday night in the unsightly opener of a last-of-its-kind Big East Tournament. Gene Teague added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the 12th-seeded Pirates (15-17), who face No. 19 Syracuse in the second round Wednesday afternoon. Even after playing an extra 5 minutes, the teams barely eclipsed the lowest-scoring game in Big East Tournament history, Georgetown's 46-41 first-round victory over Villanova in 2003.

NOTRE DAME will join the Atlantic Coast Conference starting next season, a year earlier than expected, following the split among the Big East's football schools and seven Catholic schools that are forming their own basketball-focused conference. The move was announced Tuesday by Notre Dame following a vote by Big East presidents. It comes 6 months after Notre Dame surprisingly opted to join the ACC in all sports except football and hockey. Tuesday's move means Notre Dame will join the ACC at the same time as fellow Big East members Pittsburgh and Syracuse, which announced earlier they would join the league.

A year ago at this time, Temple finally got itself back into the Big East. Who could have predicted that the Owls would never play a basketball game in the conference? But that's the reality. As has been reported, an agreement has been reached to allow the seven Catholic schools to leave the Big East, effective July 1, to form a new league. The agreement doesn't become official until there's a formal board approval, but at this point that's nothing more than a detail. It's expected to happen next week.