The Education Wars III: Private School Decline

With all of the false blather about the "superiority" of private schools (never mind the fact they weed out students, unlike public schools), they are facing decline.

Why is that?

Faced with the recession and rising tuition, are more parents at area private schools and their diocesan counterparts transferring their children to public schools to ease the strain on their pocketbooks?

Maybe.

School officials say it is difficult to measure the effect of the economy on enrollment because other factors are involved, including a declining number of school-age children and a long-term drop in the number of children in nonpublic schools.

But for Jacqui Coughlin and John Dewees, the answer is yes.

The couple's two daughters attended St. Laurence School in Upper Darby until this year. Coughlin lost her job at a car-rental company and is still looking; "pickings are slim," she said. The family moved to Morton and this fall sent both girls to Springfield district schools.