President Bush Commends Memphis Jubilee Schools

From the Catholic Schools Office

The White House Summit on Inner City Children and Faith-Based Schools was held in Washington, DC on April 24. The summit gathered together leaders in education, government, and philanthropy, as well as the corporate and business communities for a day-long program to address the challenges these schools face and to explore strategies to protect these schools for generations to come. Speakers for the summit included the Honorable Margaret Spellings, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education; the Honorable Karl Zinsmeister, Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy; the Honorable Jay Hein, White House Director of the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, as well as leaders representing educational and public policy options and community solutions.

Dr. Mary McDonald, Secretary of Education and Superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Memphis was one of the speakers for the event, and addressed the White House Summit on the success of the Jubilee Schools. The Jubilee Schools, long-closed Catholic schools in the inner city of Memphis that were reopened to serve a population in poverty, were featured as a good news story that demonstrates the commitment of the Diocese of Memphis and the generous investment of donors who partnered in educating children in poverty, lifting them, and their families, educationally, socially, and spiritually.

The highlight of the Summit was the address to the group by President George W. Bush. In his speech, President Bush praised the leadership of the Diocese of Memphis, the Jubilee Schools and local philanthropists for reversing a national trend that has closed hundreds of faith-based schools across the country.

"With the seed money, the diocese launched the Jubilee Schools initiative, and reopened Catholic schools that had been shuttered, actually in some cases, for decades. Today, ten Jubilee schools serve more than 1,400 students. Eighty-one percent of these children are not Catholic; nearly 96 percent live at or below poverty level," Bush said. "It's been a great joy for the people of Memphis to watch excellence spread."

President Bush spoke to the heart of the mission of Jubilee Schools when he further stated, "Today, our nation's poorest _ in our poorest communities, religious schools continue to provide important services. And as they carry out their historic mission of training children in faith, these schools increasingly serve children, you know, that don't share their religious tradition. That's important for people to know, that there's a lot of students who, for example, may not be Catholic, who go to the schools and get a great education. That's what we ought to be focused on: how to get people a great education."

Bush said, "In neighborhoods where some people say children simply can't learn, the faith-based schools are proving the nay-sayers wrong. These schools provide a good, solid academic foundation for children and help children understand the importance of discipline and character."

Dr. McDonald was selected to meet with President Bush prior to his address to the group. Dr. McDonald said that the President expressed his appreciation for what the Jubilee Schools are doing in the inner city and the impact they are having on our country. "He recognized in Memphis that we're doing something special. That we're making a difference and he expressed his gratitude to all those involved in this effort. He promised his continued support for the work we are doing, and I promised him my prayers."

The President also recognized the difference that the University partnerships can make in the inner-cities. He mentioned the University of Notre Dame's Alliance for Catholic Education (ACE) program. ACE is a two-year graduate degree/service program offering college graduates the opportunity to serve as full-time teachers in under-resourced Catholic schools across the southern United States. At the end of the two years the teachers receive a Masters degree in Education and the benefit of being mentored as a teacher in a Catholic school. There are five ACE teachers in Memphis Catholic Schools and twelve teachers sponsored by a similar program at Christian Brothers University, the Lasallian Association of New Catholic Educators (LANCE).

The Summit was a first step in a series of strategic planning sessions and regional summits that will generate ideas to reverse the trend of inner-city faith-based schools being closed, and discuss ways to retain religiously affiliated schools in the inner-cities. On Thursday, May 15, the Regional Summit On Innovations in Education: Empowering the Grassroots With Educational Options, conducted by the U.S. Department of Education's Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Memphis from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

"I encourage participation in the regional summit for the sake of the children in our community," said Dr. McDonald.

For more information regarding the Summit in Memphis, call The White House, Department of Education, 1-202-219-1741.