Who Will Save America’s Catholic Schools?

A threatened legacy

“What eventually emerged was the Center City Consortium, presently led by innovative Catholic educator Mary Anne Stanton. Fourteen of the troubled schools are now in the consortium, in effect forming a new school district,” writes Stern. “The consortium’s central office coordinates fund-raising, financial planning, and collecting tuition. Stanton brought in research-backed instructional curricula, including the phonics-based Open Court reading program and Saxon Math, which emphasizes fundamental skills. The consortium also took over professional development and teacher retraining. It then developed a public-relations arm and got the word out that good things were happening in the school district. Recently, the Washington Post reported on the consortium schools’ amazing five-year academic and fiscal turnaround.”