Why Catholic Schools in Florida are Growing

Introduction

In 1916, three Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Benedict the Moor School in St. Augustine, Florida, generated headlines across America when they were arrested for what was then a state crime: Being white and teaching Black students.2Gibbons, P. (2016, May 20). The Sisters of St. Joseph. reimaginED. www.reimaginedonline.org/2016/05/catholic-sisters-arrested-teaching-blacks/

At the time, the South was in the midst of a particularly virulent wave of bigotry, and two Florida politicians shamelessly used the arrests to harness racist and anti-Catholic sentiment and propel their campaigns for governor and U.S. Senate, respectively. Both candidates won.3The winning candidate for Florida governor was Sidney J. Catts. The winning candidate for U.S.
Senate was Florida Gov. Park Trammel. But in court, the Sisters of St. Joseph won, too. Their humble yet unflinching school continued to teach Black students for another half-century.4St. Benedict the Moor closed in 1964, when public school in St. Augustine desegregated. And it remains a powerful symbol of the role Catholic schools have long played in providing a high quality education to all.

Given that backdrop of faith, tenacity, and opportunity, it’s fitting that Catholic schools in Florida are again drawing national attention.

This time, because they’re growing again.

Catholic schools across the country continue to struggle with declining enrollment that goes back to the 1960s, making sad stories like this one … and this one … and this one … still all too common.5Here are the URLs to all three stories:
www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/253675/new-york-archdiocese-to-close-12-catholic-schools;
www.dispatch.com/story/news/2023/05/25/columbus-catholic-diocese-to-lose-15-churches-in-bishops-closureplan/70252106007/;
www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/st-rose-in-florissantis-third-catholic-grade-school-to-close-this-fall/article_a1b800d4-144a-11ee-b9a1-d3e392723e06.html. Over the past decade, only 10 states have shown growth in Catholic school enrollment. Only two have added more than 1,000 students. Only one has significant numbers of students in Catholic schools. (See Appendix A for the full state-by-state breakdown.)

Florida is the outlier.

Between 2013 and 2023, Florida was the only state in the Top 10 for Catholic school enrollment that did not see declines in enrollment, according to data from the National Catholic Educational Association. New York saw a 30.7 percent drop over that span; New Jersey, a 33.3 percent drop. Florida experienced 4.4 percent growth. (See Figure 1)

We don’t discount that Florida’s population growth may be contributing here. Between 2010 and 2020, Florida had the second highest rate of both overall population growth and the growth of its child population among the Top 10 states for Catholic school enrollment (at 14.6 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively), according to U.S. Census Bureau data. But Texas, the state that led both categories of population growth (at 15.9 percent and 6.0 percent, respectively), also saw significant declines in Catholic school enrollment. For every state in the Top 10, the drop in Catholic school enrollment far outpaces the drop in number of school-age children.7This map shows percentage change in population state by state between 2010 and 2020,
according to U.S. Census Bureau data:7www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial/2020/data/apportionment/apportionment-2020-map03.pdf.8This map similarly shows
the state-by-state change for the under-18 population over that span: usafacts.org/articles/the-us-child-population-shrank-by-1-million-between-2010-and-2020/ It seems fair to suggest there are other dynamics at play.

This brief aims to put a bigger spotlight on Florida’s encouraging trend lines.

It is primarily based on data from the National Catholic Education Association, the Florida Catholic Conference, and Step Up For Students, the nonprofit that administers Florida’s school choice and education choice scholarship programs.

Florida’s robust and long-running private school choice programs have been critical to the success of Florida’s 243 Catholic schools. (See Appendix B for more information about each of the programs.) In March, the Legislature and Gov. Ron DeSantis took those programs to a new level, making every student eligible for choice scholarships. But even before that historic change, more than 70 percent of Florida families could access the state’s income-based scholarships, and hundreds of thousands of others could access scholarships for students with special needs.9That figure is from a Step Up For Students analysis conducted in 2019.

Choice, though, isn’t the only factor here.

Catholic schools in Florida are operating in one of the most competitive environments for public education in America. Nearly half the students in Florida now attend something other than their zoned neighborhood schools.10Gibbons, P. (2023, January 24). Florida’s changing landscape: 1.6 million students in Sunshine
State choose education choice. reimaginED. www.reimaginedonline.org/2023/01/floridaschanging-landscape-1-6-million-students-in-sunshine-state-choose-education-choice/ In Miami-Dade County, the state’s most populous, that figure is more than 70 percent.11Miami-Dade County Public Schools calculates the figure to be 73.7 percent, according to its
website: yourchoicemiami.org. However, the district figure does not include private
schools and home education. Including those sectors, according to our calculations, brings the
total to nearly 80 percent. That Catholic schools are holding their own in this dynamic ecosystem – and are now growing again – speaks volumes about the quality and credibility the Catholic school brand signifies.

It also speaks, we think, to change within the Catholic school sector.

Catholic schools have long been able to point to the “Catholic school advantage.” In Florida, recent analysis by education researcher David Figlio bears out that low-income Catholic school students using the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship are outperforming their peers in non-Catholic schools, with bigger annual learning gains in reading and math.12Figlio, D. (2021). Evidence of a Catholic School Advantage in Nonpublic Scholarship Programs
for Low-Income Families. Urban Institute. www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/105270/evidence-of-a-catholic-school-advantage-in-nonpublic-scholarshipprograms-for-low-income-families.pdf The outcomes are even more noteworthy given 15 years of test score analyses that consistently show scholarship students as a whole – after many had fallen behind in their prior public schools – are now making a year’s worth of progress in a year’s worth of time.13For a summary of those test score analyses, go here: 21.9.1-FSU-Report-of-FTC-Testing.pdf (stepupforstudents.org). To see all of the annual test score reports going back to 2006-07, go here: www.fldoe.org/schools/school-choice/facts-figures.stml

In other words, Catholic schools in Florida are leading the charge for a sector of disadvantaged students on the rise.

But in today’s choice-rich environment, solid academics alone aren’t always enough to attract and retain parents. Which is why Florida Catholic schools are becoming more diverse by the day, in terms of both the students they’re serving and the programming they’re offering.

Competition, diversification, and innovation are also important parts of the Florida Catholic school story. The following pages offer more detail on all of those components.

5 Things to Know: Growth

For more than a decade, Catholic school enrollment in Florida has held steady. Now it’s beginning to pulse up, and anecdotal evidence about demand – more and longer wait lists; schools once half full now at capacity or expanding; new schools opening – suggests this isn’t a flash in the pan. Over the past decade, PreK-12 enrollment in Florida Catholic schools rose 4.4 percent. (See Figure 2)

That growth is in sharp contrast to the rest of America. Many states with significant numbers of Catholic students saw enrollment dips in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, then increases in the ensuing two years. But it remains to be seen whether there has been a significant jolt to the longer-term trend. (See Figure 3)

5 Things to Know: Diversity

Catholic school enrollment in Florida is increasingly diverse. Over the past decade, the percentage of students of color in Florida Catholic schools grew from 45.6 percent to 65.0 percent. Florida Catholic schools now enroll slightly more students of color than Florida public schools (64.7 percent). (See Figure 4)

More specifically, the number of Black students and Hispanic students enrolled in Florida Catholic schools is up by roughly a third over the past decade (by 37.6 percent and 32.0 percent, respectively). As a percentage of total enrollment, those groups now make up 9.2 percent and 43.9 percent of the whole, respectively. By contrast, Florida public school enrollment is 20.9 percent Black and 36.4 percent Hispanic.

High-quality learning options for Black and Hispanic students are especially important given long- running achievement gaps that widened in the wake of the pandemic. For example, the latest long- term trend data for 9-year-olds on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, released in the fall of 2022, showed the biggest declines in math and reading scores in decades and especially steep losses for Black and Hispanic students.17www.nationsreportcard.gov/highlights/ltt/2022/ The latter showed learning losses in math that were roughly twice as big as those for white students, and math scores for Black students rolled back to levels not seen in 28 years.18Ladner, M. (2022, September 1). NAEP reveals students starting with the least suffered the most in Covid-19 shutdowns. reimaginED. https://www.reimaginedonline.org/2022/09/naep-reveals-students-starting-with-the-least-suffered-the-most-in-covid-19-shutdowns/

Florida Catholic schools are also seeing significant growth in the number and percentage of students with special needs, and of students who are non-Catholic.

The number of students using special needs scholarships has grown from 2,309 to 6,070 over the past decade, an increase of 162.9 percent. That growth shows how Catholic schools are harnessing the power of the scholarships to manifest their universal Catholic identity and create a more just, and more inclusive, culture, said Gabriel Cambert, Director of Continuous Improvement at the Archdiocese of Miami. Increasing demands for a variety of settings and supports for students with special needs have propelled Catholic schools to make themselves more accessible, Cambert said. And the increased diversity, in turn, has led to students who are more empathetic and understanding of those around them.

The growth in scholarships has also spurred creation of new schools for students for special needs, including Mother Clelia Morning Star High School in the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. Mother Clelia began with 10 students in its inaugural year, 2020-21, and has more than doubled its enrollment since.

Meanwhile, the number of non-Catholic students has grown from 10,784 to 16,914 over the past decade, an increase of 56.8 percent. As a share of total enrollment, non-Catholic students have grown from 12.8 percent to 19.2 percent.

The growing diversity of Catholic schools in Florida speaks to a commitment to serve a broad array of families – and to the ability of those families to access schools they value.

5 Things to Know: Choice

State-funded school choice is one of the keys to Catholic school success in Florida. Florida’s steadily expanding school choice programs have allowed steadily growing numbers of parents to access them. (See Appendix B for a breakdown of Florida’s array of choice scholarships.)

In March, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1 into law at Christopher Columbus High
School, a Catholic school in Miami. The law makes all 3.4 million students in Florida eligible for a state-funded education savings account, which can be used for private school tuition and other educational uses.

Even before HB 1, however, more than 70 percent of families in Florida were eligible for the state’s income-based scholarships alone. That eligibility and accessibility is reflected in the growing share of Florida Catholic school students who use school choice scholarships. (See Figure 5)

As a share of total enrollment, the percentage of choice scholarship students in Florida Catholic schools has risen from 16.3 percent to 46.6 percent. That percentage is likely to rise significantly this fall, now that every family is eligible for scholarships.

An array of choice scholarships are in use.

The following chart reflects scholarship growth in Florida Catholic schools by scholarship type. Again, see Appendix B for a breakdown of the different state-funded scholarships. (See Figure 6)

5 Things to Know: Competition

If you step outside St. James Catholic School in North Miami and type “schools near me” into your phone’s Google app, a flood of options emerge. Within four miles are at least seven district-run magnet schools, specializing in everything from robotics to law studies to dance; at least six charter schools, including two that earned A grades from the state; and at least seven private schools that accept choice scholarships, including a Montessori school, a Lutheran school, and another Catholic school. Expand the radius a few more miles and more choices surface, including a KIPP charter school.

In the span of a generation, school choice in Florida went from fringe to mainstream. Between 2011- 12 and 2021-22 alone, the number of private schools and charter schools both grew by about a third. (See Figure 7). Meanwhile, total enrollment across all sectors increased by about 7 percent over that span.20Total enrollment across public, private, and home education sectors in Florida increased from
3,162,741 in 2011-12 to 3,401,372 in 2021-22, an increase of 7.5 percent, according to
information available on the Florida Department of Education website. As of June 22, 2023, the
2022-23 figures were not publicly available across all sectors.

Former Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho summed up the new dynamic this way: He likened school choice to a tsunami and said his district had a choice: It could try to outrun the wave – and get flattened. Or it could adapt. “Rather than complain about the incoming tsunami of choice,” Carvalho said, “we’re going to ride it.”21More on choice and competition in Miami-Dade: www.educationnext.org/miami-choicetsunami-carvalho-competition-transformation-miami-dade/

The elevation of choice doesn’t just put pressure on public school districts. With more and better options every day, every provider must up their game. This is the competitive educational environment Florida Catholic schools face every day – and, to date, where they have responded well.

As another example, the enrollment at St. James Catholic School in North Miami – the school noted above – has climbed from 390 to 450 over the past decade.

5 Things to Know: Innovation

St. Stephen Catholic School was built 22 years ago in the suburbs east of Tampa, a fast-growing area booming not just with new homes but with highly rated district and charter schools. The PreK- 8 school has always done well academically but five years ago decided to take it up a notch. After careful research, it adopted a content-rich language arts curriculum called Wit & Wisdom

The result: Within three years, the percentage of students reading at grade level or above had risen from 69 percent to 85 percent. And the school had another selling point to add to its list of superlatives.

Not coincidentally, St. Stephen has more than 100 students on its waiting list.

“We’re very proud that we have a very rigorous curriculum,” said principal Linda Umoh. “It’s something we definitely talk about and promote.”

What St. Stephen did is not unusual for Catholic schools in Florida. In order to stand out on a landscape where parents have more choices every day, many Catholic schools here are offering distinctive programming on top of the core features that have always made Catholic schools attractive and effective.

At least 11 Florida Catholic schools offer International Baccalaureate programs.22All the IB schools in Florida can be found here: https://flibs.org/Schools.cfm The two Cristo Rey schools offer a unique brand of work study. Florida boasts a Notre Dame ACE Academy school at St. Luke Catholic School in the Diocese of Palm Beach, and a federally designated Green Ribbon school at Christ the King in the Diocese of St. Augustine. The Florida Catholic Conference has also certified 15 schools that meet its benchmarks for a STREAM curriculum, meaning high-quality instruction in science, technology, religion, engineering, the arts, and math.23More on STREAM accreditation for Florida Catholic schools here: https://eas-ed.org/stream-schools-1

Innovative approaches are not limited to Catholic schools in the cities and suburbs, either. Hope Rural School, in the Diocese of Palm Beach, has delivered a high-quality Catholic education to the children of agricultural workers near Lake Okeechobee, in one of the most remote parts of Florida, for more than 40 years. Among other distinctive features, it offers bilingual teachers, adult education classes, a scholarship fund for alums who go to college, and a community garden where families frequently hold cookouts.24Story on Hope Rural School in the Diocese of Palm Beach: www.reimaginedonline.org/2022/04/yes-school-choice-works-in-rural-areas/ To the north, the Diocese of St. Augustine recently established a “Rural Education Initiative” to provide transportation to Catholic school students who live in rural areas too sparsely populated to support Catholic schools.25Story on the Rural Education Initiative in the Diocese of St. Augustine: www.stepupforstudents.org/blog/the-bus-ride-to-school-is-long-but-the-opportunity-for-a-catholic-education-is-well-worth-the-trip/

Examples like these counter widespread myths that school choice “can’t work” in rural areas. It also provides evidence that Catholic schools in choice-rich environments become even more responsive and creative.

Discussion

The story of Catholic schools in Florida should help spur deeper discussions about how Catholic schools can regain traction elsewhere in America.

Catholic education in Florida is growing. The students the schools serve are more diverse than ever. The programming they offer is more diversified than ever. They’re innovating in perhaps the most competitive education environment in America. And they’re doing it all while staying true to a core mission and identity that have made them vibrant and vital community institutions for generations.

We are reminded time and again of their value.

Catholic schools have long provided a top-notch education at low cost, and enabled access to many of the most disadvantaged students. But their collective performance during the pandemic – holding student performance steady while other sectors saw tragic losses27Stoll, I. (2022, October 24). Catholic Schools Are a Rare Bright Spot in Nation’s Report Card 2022
Data. Education Next. www.educationnext.org/catholic-schools-are-a-rare-bright-spot-in-nations-report-card-2022-data/ – is just the latest evidence of the “Catholic school advantage.”

One of the lessons from Catholic schools in Florida is that if the playing field is levelled, parents will choose that advantage. But it’s also true that in that choice-rich environment, no school can rest on its laurels.

There are unprecedented opportunities ahead.

The expansion of education choice now unfolding across the country is historic. The passage of universal or near-universal choice programs in Arizona, West Virginia, Iowa, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Indiana, and other states means more parents than ever will be able to choose the learning options they think are best for their children.

Catholic schools will most certainly be a crucial part of the mix.

Just how much will depend on how well they adapt to ever more dynamic environments with ever more options. The experience of Catholic schools in Florida suggests they are more than capable.

Appendix A: Catholic School PreK-12 Enrollment Trends by State

Appendix B: Florida’s Array of Education Choice Scholarships

Florida has been home to one of the nation’s most robust and diverse array of school choice and education choice scholarships. Now it has “universal choice.”

In March 2023, the Florida Legislature passed House Bill 1, which makes every student in Florida – all 3.4 million at present, and all students going forward – eligible for a state-funded education savings account (ESAs). Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law on March 27 at Christopher Columbus High School, a Catholic school in Miami.

ESAs are similar to school vouchers or tax-credit scholarships, except parents can use them to purchase more than just tuition and fees.

There are still several different types of ESA scholarships in Florida.

Scholarships for Educational Options. Under this category, there are two scholarships: The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship (FTC) and the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options (FES-EO). The Florida Tax Credit Scholarship was created in 2001 and is funded by corporate contributions in return for dollar-for-dollar tax credits. The Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options was created in 2019 and is funded directly by the state. Both previously had eligibility limits based on family income, but those limits were eliminated under HB 1. Funding priority is still given to students in low-income households. Both scholarships are worth the same amount; the average ranges between $7,430 and $8,120 per school year, depending on grade level and county of residence. The following chart reflects how the number of these scholarships has grown statewide. (See Figure 8)

Scholarships for Students with Unique Abilities. Florida created an ESA for students with special needs in 2014. It is now called the Family Empowerment Scholarship for Students with Unique Abilities (FES-UA). In 2022, that program absorbed the McKay Scholarship, a private school choice scholarship for students with disabilities that was created in 2001 but converted into an ESA in 2022. The FES-UA is worth about $10,000 per year. The following chart reflects how the number of these scholarships has grown statewide. (See Figure 9)

Personalized Education Program. HB 1 also created a new opportunity for parent-directed education using state-funded ESAs. The Personalized Education Program, or PEP, is a subset of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program, and it will be funded using FTC funds. It is available to up to 20,000 students in the fall of 2023, and up to 40,000 additional students each subsequent year through 2027, after which the program participation cap will be removed. The PEP scholarships are valued the same as the FTC and FES-EO scholarships

Other scholarships. Florida also has a school choice scholarship for students who have experienced bullying or harassment in public schools. The Hope Scholarship was created in 2018. It’s funded by people who contribute $105 of their sales taxes from motor vehicle purchases. It is also worth the same as the FTC and FESEO scholarships. The number of students using the scholarship has been relatively small.

The following chart reflects the breakdown of total Florida scholarship growth over time (excluding Hope). (See Figure 10)

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank a number of folks who made this white paper possible. Thank you to photographer Rick Tauceda, who is responsible for most of the wonderful photos. Thank you to Jaclyn Kilpatrick and Holly Stallings, in External Relations at Step Up For Students, for expertly guiding the design and presentation. Thank you to Fernanda Murgueytio, in Policy, Innovation, and Empowerment, for painstakingly scanning in a stack of data. Thank you to the regional managers in Customer Experience, who maintain strong relationships with Catholic schools throughout Florida and helped coordinate many of the spotlights in this paper. And thank you to Step Up’s leadership, for deeming these kinds of projects worthy of staff time and attention.

We are also grateful to five people who went out of their way to review our draft and offer excellent feedback: Rebekah Bydlak and Bruce Hermie at the American Federation for Children; Shawn Peterson at Catholic Education Partners; Mary Camp at the Florida Catholic Conference; and Deacon Scott Conway at the Diocese of St. Augustine.

Finally, a special thank you to the Florida Catholic Conference, which has since its founding taken an active and cooperative role in the health, education, and welfare of the people of Florida; and to the Catholic dioceses in Florida, which have steadfastly supported education freedom in the Sunshine State for 150 years.