“The same unions that are forcing public schools to close nationwide now want to close Catholic schools under the false guise of “equality.” Yet Catholic schools serve primarily low-income and middle-class families seeking good alternatives to often-failing public schools. A Catholic education costs almost $7,000 less per pupil than a government-run school, 40 percent of Catholic schools are located in the inner city, and nearly all offer financial aid despite operating at a loss. All this while boasting some of the best educational outcomes in the country.

In the words of the USCCB, “Catholic schools are often the only opportunity for economically disadvantaged young people to receive an education of quality that speaks to the development of the whole person.”

Despite having far fewer resources to draw on, Catholic schools nationwide have put forward plans to help the most disadvantaged students get back in the classroom where health and public policy experts agree they belong. The very existence of Catholic schools undercuts the teachers unions’ arguments that throwing more money and outrageous demands at any challenge is the solution. Their self-serving hostility to Catholic schools highlights the fact that the teachers unions really don’t care for the disadvantaged students they claim to represent.”