Catholic Teaching & Parent Choice in Education Policy

Chris is joined this episode by Shawn Peterson, president of Catholic Education Partners, an organization founded by US bishops in 2017 in order to provide a Catholic voice in education choice policy discussions. Chris and Shawn walk through Catholic teaching on this topic, including Vatican Council II, which exhorted civil authorities to empower parents to be truly free in directing their child's education by making available financial resources. They unpack the Catechism no. 2229, Gravissimum Educationes no. 6, and the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church no. 241. They also discuss Education Savings Accounts, including the new program recently passed in West Virginia. They also discuss the reality that, in rural areas, a government school can be the cultural and economic center of gravity for the community; this in turn causes fear of "winners and losers" in education choice policy discussions. However, rather than creating winners and losers, Shawn says parent choice programs are truly win-win for both government and non-government schools -- and most importantly, are a 'win' for parents and kids. See a summary of the research here.