--- title: How Faith-Based and Private Schools Can Help Chicago Youth description: State lawmakers across the U.S. have found a way to improve test scores — and build safe havens canonical: https://time.com/4911499/chicago-murder-rate-gun-violence-education-catholic-schools/ author: Nicole Garnett article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-22T20:49:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:07:08.922Z article:section: Ideas og:title: How Faith-Based and Private Schools Can Help Chicago Youth og:description: State lawmakers across the U.S. have found a way to improve test scores — and build safe havens og:url: https://time.com/4911499/chicago-murder-rate-gun-violence-education-catholic-schools/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b4e170ae41340ae/6988daba22fb8550e5e22820/chicago-schools-catholic-private-murder-rate-gun-violence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Tavon Tanner, a bullet, and what happened on the streets of Chicago og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Faith-Based and Private Schools Can Help Chicago Youth twitter:description: State lawmakers across the U.S. have found a way to improve test scores — and build safe havens twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2b4e170ae41340ae/6988daba22fb8550e5e22820/chicago-schools-catholic-private-murder-rate-gun-violence.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Faith-Based and Private Schools Can Help Chicago Youth > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. by [Nicole Garnett](https://time.com/author/nicole-garnett/) ## Nicole Garnett Aug 22, 2017 8:49 PM UTC  Tavon Tanner, 11, on his way to school, Nov. 28, 2016 in Chicago. Tanner has started attending school for a few hours a week after recovering from his gunshot injuries he received when he was shot on his porch on Aug. 8, 2016. Tavon Tanner, 11, on his way to school, Nov. 28, 2016 in Chicago. Tanner has started attending school for a few hours a week after recovering from his gunshot injuries he received when he was shot on his porch on Aug. 8, 2016. E. Jason Wambsgans—Chicago Tribue/TNS/Getty Images by [Nicole Garnett](https://time.com/author/nicole-garnett/) ## Nicole Garnett Aug 22, 2017 8:49 PM UTC In Chicago, a city where violence has engulfed families and neighborhoods — a four-year-old was among the thirty-six people [shot](http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-weekend-violence-437500173.html) in yet another bloody weekend last month — low-income children are in desperate need of a path out of the cycle of poverty and violence. We cannot know how many of the perpetrators of the shootings graduated with the skills necessary to be prepared for a life after the classroom. But the evidence suggests too few of Chicago’s children are achieving the educational milestones that predict success. For some of them, the problem may be the lack of access to schools that would best serve their needs. A [study](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-19/private-school-is-becoming-out-of-reach-for-middle-class-americans) released last month by the National Bureau of Economic Research reveals that private and faith-based schools are increasingly out of reach for working-class families. Nationally, the enrollment gap between kids from high- and median-income families jumped from 5 percentage points in 1968 to a whopping 19 points in 2013. The solution that disadvantaged Chicago kids need: a [tax credit scholarship program](http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-tuition-tax-credit-school-choice-0813-md-20170811-story.html) that would allow individuals and businesses to claim a credit against their tax bill for donations made to scholarship-granting organizations. In turn, those donations would go to fund scholarships for students to attend a school of their choice. This is one of the most important decisions that a parent makes. It’s essential that we ensure that America’s most affluent families are not the only ones to have the freedom of that choice. Lawmakers in Illinois have an opportunity to change this dynamic, as the state’s education funding bill winds its way through its final legislative stages — and other states should follow suit. Some, including Florida, have already [shown](http://www.nber.org/papers/w16056) that this relatively minor change can make a major difference for the families that are able to finally take advantage of educational choice. There is also striking evidence, documented in numerous studies, that tax-credit scholarships lift student achievement in public schools. For example, a [study](http://www.nber.org/papers/w16056) by scholars at Northwestern University found that a similar program in Florida created modest improvements in student test scores by public school students and a healthy new level of competition that forced everyone to be more accountable. Catholic schools provide a good example — and have been a major force in this movement. In Florida, for example, 18,823 kids are enrolled in Catholic schools on a tax credit scholarship for 2017–2018, according to the nonprofit group Step Up For Students. And there is certainly room to grow in Chicago. Officials from the Archdiocese of Chicago estimate that there are _at least_ 100,000 empty seats in their Catholic schools. An estimated 50% of Chicago Catholic schools qualify for free-and-reduced lunches, and about 20% of them fall under the federal poverty line, according to the Archdiocese — yet it cannot afford to pay tuition for all the students who need it. These schools have an impressive track record, according to the Archdiocese’s latest annual [report](https://schools.archchicago.org/documents/80540/80677/Final+Annual+Report+2015-2016/dcc63c11-e67c-4325-bf3f-bd834a14ace7). Across English, mathematics, reading, and science, Archdiocese of Chicago high schools outperformed the state average on the ACT. Across English, reading, writing, math and science, archdiocese elementary schools met or exceeded all ACT Aspire benchmarks for grades 3 through 8. Moreover, my research on Catholic schools in Chicago shows that they also act to deter violence and build social cohesion in neighborhoods. In the first [study](https://ace.nd.edu/pages/lost-classroom-lost-community-nicole-garnett-margaret-brinig) of its kind, my co-author and I found that the crime rate in police beats with Catholic schools was, on average, at least 33% lower than in police beats without them. We also linked Catholic school closures to increases in serious crime. In effect, they are part of the glue that reinforces the social cohesion of the surrounding community — meaning that the tax-credit scholarship program being considered by Illinois lawmakers would not just increase educational options but also help develop the community. But the question before lawmakers is not just about Catholic schools. It’s also simply about what children and their parents want. A new Gallup poll released this week [shows](http://www.gallup.com/poll/216404/private-schools-first-public-schools-last-ratings.aspx) that private schools have become increasingly enticing for parents seeking more options for their children. According to the survey, independent private schools rate better than four other types of American educational institutions. The poll found that 71% of respondents rated independent private schools as excellent (21%) or good (50%). “Americans as a whole believe private and parochial schools do a better job of educating students than public schools do,” wrote Gallup’s Lydia Saad. She added that this “might be remedied with the right federal or state public school education policies.” We must ensure that all students have access to an equal playing field. Quality public schools are critical to this goal. But private, faith-based and charter schools also serve public education. 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