Ambitious Genesis program to revitalize schools

An ambitious plan to restore archdiocesan Catholic schools to health and vitality is being rolled out this fall by Superintendent Nicholas Wolsonovich.

The multi-year program, called Genesis: ANew Beginning for Catholic Schools, will build on the system’s academic strengths by enhancing faith development and seeking to restructure school funding.

“Over the years, Catholic schools have done a marvelous job educating the young people of the archdiocese,” Wolsonovich said. He cited the many indicators of the schools’ success, including high test scores and a graduation rate approaching 100 percent. About 90 percent of Catholic high school graduates go on to college, he said.

“At the same time,” he said, “as we look to the future, we see some challenges—primarily financial ones but also in terms of mission.”

Genesis is designed to meet those challenges and more, he said.

The program is the result of two efforts over at least two years, a strategic planning process and a separate “visioning” process.

The closing of nearly 20 schools this spring was part of the strategic plan, he said. The closings were designed to strengthen remaining parish schools. “Many of the recommendations that came out of the planning were designed to make our schools more financially viable,” he said.

The simultaneous “visioning process,” he said, “looked at how we could enhance our Catholicity—our Catholic identity and our academics. So we married these two” into the Genesis program.

Genesis focuses on three major areas: identity, academic excellence and school vitality.

The plan offers nearly a score of goals and action plans in those areas, he said.

While academics continue to be strong throughout the system, Genesis will try to improve them further with curriculum development and increased staff training.

“In the long term,” said Wolsonovich, “we expect we will have a [standardized] curriculum, K through 12, in all academic areas. And then we would want all the schools to have assessment tools—standardized tests to assess our students’ catechetical development. That’s never been done before.”

It is in the areas of Catholicity and vitality—finances—that Genesis will have the most impact.

Catholic schools have to be different, he said. “The only reason we have Catholic schools is to teach the Gospel.”

Cardinal George’s comments in support of Genesis echoed that view. “The church conducts school because Jesus was a teacher. … More important than … statistics, however, is the personal formation given in an academic environment shaped by faith. Catholic schools are free to … talk about what is most important, about God and human destiny. Catholic schools respect the human dignity of each student by teaching the truth about what is ultimately important.”

Among Genesis’ major points is have the Office for Catechesis train and certify teachers as catechists. Now catechists trained by the office primarily teach public schoolchildren in parish-based programs.

Years ago, faith-training for Catholic school teachers was never a concern because schools were staffed mostly by women and men religious who had been formed in the faith by their congregations, Wolsonovich said. “But now we have 95 percent laypeople in the schools and we (the Archdiocese of Chicago) have to take over that role” so the faith can be adequately passed on.

Perhaps Genesis’ biggest challenge, the superintendent conceded, will be the area of school vitality, or how Catholic education will be funded.

A generation or more ago, he said, “there was hardly any tuition, at least in our elementary schools.” The philosophy was “parish pays,” and the whole parish supported the school. When religious populated the classrooms, costs were much lower.

“That has shifted over the past 35 or 40 years. We’ve switched to what can be called a ‘user pays’ philosophy. The people who attend … are the ones bearing the cost.”

Tuition has increased to an average of more than $3,000 a year. Tuition payments cover about 80 percent of the $550 million it costs to keep the schools open each year. Fund-raisers, Big Shoulders Fund donations and archdiocesan subsidies pay the rest.

Amain goal of the Genesis program is to find a better way to support the schools.

“We are going try to turn this big ship slowly around to where parishes support schools again,” he said, because educating children in the faith is not just a school issue.

The larger faith community has a responsibility, he said, and parishes must embrace a stewardship way of life to meet that obligation. Genesis is part of “a new beginning to spread the responsibility—not the burden—to support all ministries of the church, including education.”

The church will continue to press for passage of voucher legislation, he said, noting that it would cost Illinois taxpayers more than $1 billion a year to provide public education for all the Catholic-school students in the state. “But that’s not in our control; what is in our control is how we as a parish, as the people of God, support our church. Protestants do it; why not Catholics?”

In 1964, he said, archdiocesan schools had 366,000 students and tuition was practically nonexistent. Today there are 106,000 students. “As tuition has gone up, enrollment has gone down,” he said.

An unacceptable alternative, said Wolsonovich, is a Catholic school system only for the wealthy. “That’s not Catholic. It shouldn’t happen. Catholic schools cannot afford to price themselves out of existence. It’s not the cardinal or the archdiocese closing schools; it’s all the people of God who are letting that happen. We have to change that; we really do.”

Genesis was scheduled to be presented in mid-August to schools presidents, principals and pastors. Parents and parishioners also will have the opportunity learn about the program and how they can help support it.