Catholic schools in the United States

Catholic schools are supported primarily through tuition payments and fundraising, and typically enroll students irrespective of their religious background.

[1] By the middle of the 19th century, Catholics in larger cities started building their own parochial school system.

[2] The main impetus was fear that indoctrination by Protestant teachers in the public schools would lead to a loss of faith.

In some dioceses the bishop holds the title of superintendent, while others have delegated this responsibility to the head of the Office of Catholic Schools.

[10] Enrollment in the nation's Catholic schools has steadily dropped to less than half of its peak at five million students 40 years ago, The New York Times reported in early 2009.

The article also reported on "dozens of local efforts" to turn the tide, including by the Archdiocese of Chicago and Washington, and dioceses in Memphis and Wichita, Kansas, as well as in the New York metro area.

In 2002, the United States Supreme Court partially vitiated these amendments, in theory, when they ruled that vouchers were constitutional if tax dollars followed a child to a school, even if it were religious.