December 1, 1997
Business Leaders Testify That
Catholic Urban Schools Are Last Hope of Urban Poor
Washington, D.C. ----- Catholic urban schools are the last hope of the urban poor according to Raymond A. Mason.
Mr. Mason, founding member of the Legg Mason Financial Services Organization and Chairman of Partners in Excellence, a consortium of Baltimore business leaders providing scholarships for Catholic schools, is one of fourteen speakers and panelists whose ardent testimony is featured in a new FADICA publication, Signs of Hope: Catholic Schools and American Cities.
The publication is based on a June symposium held in Milwaukee and sponsored by the foundation consortium, FADICA. The exchange featured new research on Catholic schools, innovative models of Catholic urban high school education, and new measures to support Catholic schools sponsored by business communities.
John J. Stollenwerk, Chairman of the Allen Edmond Shoe Corporation of Fort Washington, Wisconsin, and Co-chairman of Partners Advancing Values in Education (PAVE), remarks, "Catholic education is really the hope for the future and the answer to a lot of problems we're facing". Stollenwerk shares with FADICA how the five-year-old PAVE program has functioned providing over four million dollars in scholarship assistance yearly to Milwaukee inner city students.
The Chairman of the Archbishop's Education Foundation (AEF) of Los Angeles, William Huston, reports the interest of 236 corporations and foundations in support of Catholic schools in the L.A. archdiocese. Mr. Huston tells FADICA that AEF's efforts have generated over eighty million dollars. The foundation awards over four thousand scholarships in Catholic urban schools each year.
Richard J. Reuscher, FADICA Board member, philanthropist, and a moderator for the Milwaukee meeting, praises the corporate leaders' efforts: "You have all broken new ground engaging the business community in the work of urban schools," says Mr. Reuscher.
The proceedings provide a complete discussion among Catholic educational leaders and over seventy private foundation representatives on why Catholic urban education is enjoying new growth and broader public interest.
Also featured in the proceedings are: Dr. Leonard DeFiore, President of the National Catholic Education Association, Dr. John Convey of The Catholic University of America, Rev. Joseph O'Keefe SJ, of Boston College, Dr. Michael S. Joyce of the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation of Milwaukee, and several award winning Catholic high school principals.
The proceedings are available through FADICA at $9.95 plus postage of $1.50.
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