The Catholic Schools Saved by Vouchers

Catholic schools, once a mainstay for the Irish, Italian, and Polish communities in American cities, are struggling. With shrinking numbers of nuns as a source of free labor, and fewer parishioners passing the donation baskets on Sunday and enrolling their kids in parochial schools, many simply cannot afford to keep their doors open. Just last week, the Archdiocese of New York announced the closure of five more schools for financial reasons; that’s on top of dozens that were shuttered in 2011 and 2013.

At least in Milwaukee, Catholic churches have kept their schools alive with the help of —public money given to parents to spend for their children’s education at . The economists Daniel M. Hungerman and Kevin J. Rinz and the that vouchers actually staved off imminent school closures in Milwaukee, though they did not improve the church’s overall finances.