Will Private School Choice Save Catholic Schools in the U.S.? Interrogating the Catholic School Sector’s Relationship to the School Privatization Movement

A central part of the private school choice coalition in the U.S. has been the participation of Catholic school stakeholders. The purpose of this article is to examine how Catholic school advocacy became linked to private school choice advocacy by highlighting the institutional and organizational crises facing Catholic elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. that led to sector-wide policy responses favoring choice. However, through an analysis of emerging trends in private school choice policy implementation, this paper raises questions about the efficacy of continued advocacy for private school choice policy within the Catholic sector.