Some Catholic Schools Under New Management

Some Catholic Schools Under New Management

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The Archdiocese of Chicago is taking steps to halt declining school enrollment. It’s taking over management of 16 Catholic schools.

The superintendent of schools for the Archdiocese says the schools are all over the region and were picked randomly.

Sister Mary Paul McCaughey says the Archdiocese will take over daily operations, and the parish priests will remain responsible for religious development.

McCAUGHEY: The schools have very traditionally been tied with the life of the parish and in the parish accounts, and this kind of pulls them out a little bit from under that former umbrella to let us take a look and put them under a microscope a bit.

McCaughey says the Archdiocese hopes to improve enrollment, academic achievement and finances with the three-year pilot program.

Chester Finn Jr. is the head of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, an educational think tank.  He says more dioceses are consolidating management. He says the larger scale can lead to more marketing, professional development and cost savings.