Am I correct that most of the students attending these schools were not Catholic. Their parents did not have any interest in learning more about the Catholic Church or join the religion. Few of the students joined the Catholic Church upon graduation.
It is far better for the Catholic Church to use its scarce funds to give **Catholic** children a thoroughly Catholic education.
A Christian parent's **most** important mission field is his own children. Next is the mission field of children of the congregation.
Hopefully we will see more congregations like Wichita, Kansas, where **all** Catholic children have access to tuition **FREE** Catholic schools.
Finally, the children attending the Catholic charters will still receive much of the same excellent teaching and values.
You can find some background information here and here.
Apparently the Archbishop here is the same one responsible for closing and consolidating a lot of the schools in Pennsylvania. I believe Twink and Tired of Taxes were complaining about that a week or two ago.
I think the tution-free Wichita Catholic schools are a result of donations from parishioners, is that true? If so, that's the way to go. Charity comes from the heart, not through threat of force by the state.
As a side note: I do find it amusing when parents who see nothing wrong with being forced to pay for public schools complain about Catholic and private schools charging a higher tuition to offset the tuition for other students. They have a choice not to pay the tuition or attend the Catholic school. I myself have opposed having to pay a higher amount for private programs (such as the YMCA, little league, etc.) in order to subsidize the cost for people who cannot pay. The difference is, I have a choice not to join or pay into them. Not so with public schools.