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Those NEA/DOE types are everywhere. The comment about having to educate all was a red herring. I am not sure if Catholic/private schools have to adhere to "mainstreaming" rules with regards to special ed. That's another problem. I've seen moms at a board of ed meeting complaining how this one autistic kid makes the class bedlam.

The best thing a parent can do is get his kid to read aloud to him at night to see how the student is doing.

Also, he should stay involved with the homework situation so as to see what is going on in class. Even if the child is responsible and does his work, the parent should be there. Later is when problems surely will occur (if not from the get-go) and you want the pattern established of keeping your foot in the door.

This does 2 things--monitor the progress and see what crazy curricula is being used and what is taught. (Harry Potter is required reading in many schools.)

Having seen a large number of Catholic and other schools at work, I would say that the primary advantage, in terms of absolute performance, Catholic and other private schools have is that they take a better "slice" of the school age population. On average, the fact that tuition is charged filters out most of the underclass or would-be underclass. You get a similar effect by moving between school districts. This effect is pretty well understood, and is even quite predictable, mathematically, using tools like the California DOE SCI index.

On top of that, though, there are specific effects of private schools, unfortunately these are not easy to quantify if at all, as there is little useful comparative testing done in private schools.

The first is the fact that private schools and Catholic schools do not accept difficult students, and can expel students if necessary. This gives them a huge advantage in productivity.

The second is that there is a much more pragmatic approach to curriculum, and faddishness there tends to be either limited or applies only to populations who won't be hurt much by it.

Special ed is probably the one area where private/parochial schools cannot compete with public schools, largely due to financial resources. I like the things you said about parental involvement in their child's education. That is critical, and far too many parents abdicate their responsibility!