NCEA and the Diocese of San Diego held a press briefing today at the NCEA 2016 Convention & Expo to discuss the State of Catholic Education and provide an overview of NCEA’s annual report, United States Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools 2015-2016: Annual Statistical Repozrt on Schools, Enrollment and Staffing.
NCEA Interim President Dr. Thomas Burnford kicked off the press briefing stating, “Catholic school educators and leaders are in daily service to the nation’s Catholic school communities, fulfilling the mission of a faith-filled education for students, and in turn enriching our society as a whole. We are pleased to offer Catholic educators from across the country the opportunity to connect with each other, exchange ideas and discover new technology and resources.”
Data for the annual statistical report is collected by NCEA annually through the 172 arch/diocesan offices of education throughout the country. NCEA Public Policy & Research Director and co-author of the Annual Statistical Report, Sister Dale McDonald, gave highlights from the report, including enrollment trend data, the financial benefits that Catholic school choice provides the nation, the need to build new schools in growing areas, and the importance of parental school choice. She said, “There are 6,525 Catholic schools in this country, 5,325 elementary schools and 1,200 secondary schools. Among the good news we share of our schools is that we are financially a gift to the nation when you consider the per pupil cost of $12,608. Our contribution is more than $24 billion savings each year to the nation.”
John Galvan, Director of Schools for the Diocese of San Diego, remarked on the national and local news perspective. “The positive value added to individual lives and to the world is clearly measurable because of the impact of Catholic schools and their students,” continued Mr. Galvan. “The NCEA Convention & Expo in San Diego will provide a wonderfully creative professional platform for those on the front lines of leading Catholic schools and classrooms to collaborate in advancing this important ministry of the Church.”
And local Catholic school teacher and winner of the NCEA Lead. Learn. Proclaim. Award, Jacqueline Wick, spoke on the mission of being a Catholic school educator. One of Ms. Wick’s students, Alejandra Beresford eloquently captured the value of a Catholic education when she said, “At the end of the day, you look around at everyone you share your faith with and perform service with and you feel you are united with a common bond – a Catholic education.”
To download the audio coverage of the press briefing, please click here.
For more information and data on Catholic schools, please click here. To purchase a copy of United States Catholic Elementary and Secondary Schools 2015-2016: Annual Statistical Report on Schools, Enrollment and Staffing, please click here.
Press inquiries should be directed to Margaret Kaplow, Public Relations manager for NCEA at [email protected]
