SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

GOOD PARENTS FIND A WAY – OVERNIGHT, From bizpacreview.com:    New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio may have inadvertently started a religious revival in the Big Apple after announcing the elimination of the Gifted & Talented (G&T) program for the city’s schools.  The Diocese of Brooklyn, which serves 1.2 million Catholics in Brooklyn and Queens, noted that their Catholic elementary schools’ enrollment grew by 2.4 percent for the current school year, according to a report by the New York Post.  The increased interest in religious education comes after more than a decade of decline in enrollment for parochial schools in New York.  But this year the tables are turned as public schools in the city have been plagued by low attendance and steep declines in enrollment with nearly 18 percent of New York City school children failing to show up on the first day of instruction. A risqué drag queen performance at a 2017 New York City elementary school talent show probably didn’t help enrollment numbers either.  “The families that came to us last year stayed with us,” Dr. Thomas Chadzutko, superintendent of the Diocese of Brooklyn’s schools explained. “This is a positive time for Catholic education within the diocese […] It is an alternative for families.”  In particular, pre-kindergarten enrollment has skyrocketed with a 20 percent increase in students this year. Chadzutko is hoping to keep 50 to 70 percent of the new enrollees in the diocesan system, which would boost enrollment in future years for elementary and high schools.  Many were enthusiastic about those clamoring to exit the government-run school system, with one person exclaiming, “Awesome! Make America God Again!”  That's good news, and another argument for school choice, with parents applying tax credits to choose the schools they wish for their children.  Anything anti-American about that?  Nope.

October 18, 2021