What a difference a ZIP code can make

After the recent decision by Judge Thomas Moukawsher that said “Connecticut is defaulting on its constitutional duty” to provide the state’s children with an adequate education, I was dismayed to read about the comparisons and inequities between the schools in Fairfield and the diminishing resources and results in neighboring Bridgeport. What a difference a ZIP code can make. However, not all schools in Bridgeport share the discouraging statistics mentioned in recent newspaper articles.

As the state sets out to reshape our system of public education, I would like to make a few observations based on my personal experiences as an educator and administrator. I have been in Catholic school education as a principal of independent girls schools for 30 years in such well-off suburbs as Princeton, N.J. and Greenwich, with tuitions upward of $30,000.

For seven years, I have been executive director for the Catholic Academy of Bridgeport, which comprises four academies, St. Ann, St. Andrew, St. Raphael and St. Augustine, serving almost 1,000 low-income elementary school children with an average tuition of $4,700. It costs us $7,500 to educate each pupil while public school students do not pay tuition and receive $14,000 per pupil from the state. Suburban schools augment these funds with local tax dollars and special fundraisers.

Our Catholic Academy of Bridgeport serves the same population of students as public schools in Bridgeport. Not all our children are Catholic; the majority are below the poverty line, and our racial and ethnic mix mirrors that of the Bridgeport public schools. More than 85 percent of our students qualify for financial aid, requiring that we raise more than $2 million annually.

We receive no public monies except for some Title II funds for professional development, the presence of a school nurse when possible and transportation, which is now threatening to demand our children as young as 5 years old walk to school if they live less than 1.5 miles away.

Our faculty salaries are often tens of thousands less than public school teachers, yet they joyfully serve. All teachers are evaluated annually, there is no tenure and teachers underperforming are not rehired. Our teachers take pride in knowing that together we set high standards for our pupils and themselves.

So why are our outcomes so different? Our Terra Nova tests reveal that except for several children with special learning challenges, the vast majority are on or above grade level in math and reading/language arts, sometimes by two years. Our eighth-graders move on to public and Catholic high schools with a high school graduation rate of 100 percent. No one drops out. Ninety-eight percent attend college or technical schools and distinguish themselves not only by their academic achievements but also by their character and discipline.

Our tag line for the Catholic Academy of Bridgeport is “Something More.” Why? Because we find that is why parents choose to send their children to our school. They want “something more.” They want schools that are safe, develop character, celebrate religious diversity and encourage strong academics.

The court decision will lead to wide-ranging changes in the public education system, I am sure. However, I await the day when we can have a dialogue in

America that allows public, religiously affiliated and independent schools to join hands in our common effort to make sure no student gets the short end of the stick educationally, and that academic success is not determined by ZIP code but by our resolve to provide the best for all children.

Sr. Joan Magnetti, RSCJ, is executive director of the Catholic Academy of Bridgeport which comprises four academies, St. Ann, St. Andrew, St. Raphael and St. Augustine, serving almost 1,000 low-income elementary school children. She was headmistress of Convent of the Sacred Heart in Greenwich for 19 years.