Parochial Schools
Parochial schools, often referred to as church or sectarian schools, primarily provide a religious-based education alongside a standard curriculum. Historically dominated by Catholic institutions, parochial schools have seen a shift since the 1970s, with an increase in conservative Christian schools. As of the 2021-2022 school year, approximately 77 percent of private school students attended parochial schools, with a quarter of these enrolled in Catholic schools. These schools typically require religious instruction and may expect adherence to the beliefs of the founding denomination, making them a popular choice for parents seeking to preserve religious identity or for academic reasons.
Parochial schools are lightly regulated, with varying state requirements for teacher certification and curriculum, and they receive some public funding for resources like transportation and textbooks. However, they tend to have lower teacher salaries compared to public schools. Demographically, attendance at parochial schools is often linked to higher parental education and income levels, and there are disparities in racial enrollment, with White, non-Hispanic students attending at higher rates than their Black and Hispanic peers. While proponents argue that religious education can foster positive youth development, critics express concerns about potential limitations on freedom of thought and community cohesiveness.
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Parochial Schools
During the 2021-2022 school year, about 77 percent of K-12 students who attended a private school went to a parochial school, according to the Pew Research Center in 2024. While Catholic schools predominated parochial schooling in the first half of the twentieth century, their enrollment has declined since the 1970s, while the number of conservative Christian schools has increased. Parochial schools are lightly regulated by states, and parents’ rights to choose private religious schooling for their children have been guaranteed by the US Supreme Court.
Overview
According to NCES in 2024, the number of Catholic schools decreased by 5 percent from 2019-20 to 2021-22, or 6,540 students to 6,120 students. These schools are variously called parochial schools, church schools, or sectarian schools. In addition to the standard curriculum, parochial schools usually require students to receive religious instruction and sometimes require adherence to the creed of the founding sect. Many parents choose parochial schools for their children in order to preserve religious identity, while others elect to send their children for nonsectarian academic and social purposes.
White, non-Hispanic students are twice as likely to attend parochial schools as Black and Hispanic students. Attendance is also positively related to parental education and family income, and 15 percent of children with parents holding graduate or professional degrees attend church-related private schools, according to the NCES. Parochial school teachers earn less than those who teach public schools. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported in 2023 that the average public school teacher's salary was $61,760 while the average salary for a private school teacher was $47,480.
Historically, the majority of parochial schools in the United States have been Catholic, as they sought alternatives to the mostly Protestant student bodies of public schools. Catholic school enrollment peaked in the 1960s, and between 1989 and 2008, the Catholic share of private schools declined from 55 percent to 43 percent, as did the Baptist, Lutheran, Seventh-Day Adventist, and Calvinist shares. Jewish, Episcopal, and Friends (Quaker) proportions, already small, increased very slightly, but the conservative or fundamentalist Christian share increased from 11 to 15 percent, according to Broughman, Swaim, and Keaton in 2009. According to the Pew Research Center in 2024, during the 2021-2022 school year, about 77 percent of K-12 students who attended a private school went to a parochial school. Of those attending a parochial school, 25 percent went to a Catholic school.
In 1925, the Supreme Court struck down an Oregon law that required students to attend public schools, and since then states have varied in their regulation of private schools, including requirements for teacher certification, the curriculum, and accreditation. In most states, parochial schools voluntarily apply for state accreditation. Parochial schools receive some public funding, including for transportation, textbooks, and remedial instruction.
According to author James Dwyer, critics argue that parochial schools can harm children by repressing freedom of thought and expression, denying access to important knowledge and cognitive skills, and promoting intolerance for other faiths. For others, the establishment of separate religious schools raises concerns about the potential loss of social cohesion in a community. Private religious schools are more segregated by race than public schools, according to Sean Reardon, John Yun, and Gary Orfield. Parents are less likely to opt for private religious schools as their religion or denomination’s share in the local population rises, when they can be sure the public schools have many coreligionists, according to research by Danny Cohen-Zada. Other research by Christian Smith suggests that religious education has positive effects on adolescents and is negatively correlated to rates of drug and alcohol use, suicide, teenage pregnancy, and dropping out, as well as positively related to political and civic involvement.
Bibliography
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Broughman, Stephen P., and Nancy L. Swaim. Characteristics of Private Schools in the United States: Results from the 2011–12 Private School Universe Survey. Washington: National Center for Education Statistics, 2013. Digital file.
Cohen-Zada, Danny. “Preserving Religious Identity through Education: Economic Analysis and Evidence from the US.” Journal of Urban Economics 60.3 (2006): 372–98. Print.
Dwyer, James G. Religious Schools v. Children’s Rights. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1998. Print.
"EdStat: 89 Percent of American Children who Attended a Private Elementary School were Enrolled in a Catholic School in 1965." Education Next, 3 Aug. 2018, www.educationnext.org/edstat-89-percent-american-children-attended-private-elementary-school-enrolled-catholic-school-1965/. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
McDonald, Dale, and Margaret M. Schultz. U.S. Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools 2012-2013: The Annual Statistical Report on Schools, Enrollment, and Staffing. Arlington: Natl. Catholic Educ. Assoc., 2013. Print.
National Center for Education Statistics. The Condition of Education. Inst. of Educ. Sciences, 2013. Web. 26 July 2013.
National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of Education Statistics: 2013. NCES, May 2015. Web. 30 June 2015.
National Center for Education Statistics. Schools and Staffing Survey. Inst. of Educ. Sciences, 2008. Web. 28 July 2013.
Reardon, Sean F., John T. Yun, and Gary Orfield. Private School Racial Enrollments and Segregation.Boston: Civil Rights Project, 2006. Print.
Schaeffer, Katherine. "US Public, Private, and Charter Schools in Five Charts." Pew Research Center, 6 June 2024, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/06/06/us-public-private-and-charter-schools-in-5-charts/. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.
Smith, Christian. “Theorizing Religious Effects among American Adolescents.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 42.1 (2003): 17–30. Print.
United States. Department of Education. “State Regulation of Private Schools.” US Department of Education. US Dept. of Educ., 2012. Web. 28 July 2013.
Watson, Audrey. "Comparing Occupation Employment and Wages in Public and Private Elementary and Secondary Schools." Beyond the Numbers, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, vol. 12, no. 3, Feb. 2023, www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-12/comparing-occupational-employment-and-wages.htm. Accessed 26 Dec. 2024.