PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS, schools, mostly elementary, maintained by re ligious denominations to provide instruc tion in matters of religious faith as well as in secular studies. Two denomi nations only have provided a sufficient number of parochial schools for any con siderable number of their children: the Roman Catholic and the Lutheran. Of these two denominations the former has much the larger system, and because of its extent Catholic authorities have claimed exemption from school taxes for their people, asserting that by supporting parochial schools their parishioners have more than met their share of the general educational expense. It has been esti mated that it would cost the nation one hundred million dollars to accommodate the children now in the Catholic paro chial schools.
Roman Catholics have always asserted that religious instruction should be in separable from education in secular mat ters, so as to secure the proper type of Christian citizenship. Consequently, at plenary and provincial councils Catholics have been exhorted and commanded to send their children to the parochial schools. A system of supervision of teachers in the schools was started in 1884, and since that date the number of children in Catholic schools has steadily increased. In 1900 there were 3,812 schools, in 1910, 4,972 and according to latest available figures there were 5,286 schools with 1,360,761 pupils. These schools are under the general charge of the bishop of the diocese who appoints school boards for the parishes and gen eral superintendents to supervise school activities. The parish priest is also a controlling influence in each local school.
The subjects studied are similar to those of the public schools with the addition, however, of considerable instruction in the Catholic faith. The teachers are usually members of some of the religious orders in the church or are in training for such membership. In 1911 a teach ers' college was established for the training of teachers in the Catholic schools. For the most part these schools have confined themselves to elementary work, but after 1905 a number of Cath olic High Schools have been established under the direct control of the bishop of the diocese. There is also established at present a course of instruction start ing in the elementary schools continuing in the high schools, and closing with a degree from the Catholic Universities in America.
The other denomination supporting parochial schools is the Lutheran. Here the schools are under the charge of the separate congregations and no at tempt is made to coerce the parents to send their children to Lutheran schools. They have been patronized for the most part by Germans and Norwegians who desire their children to retain some of the traditions of their homeland. The progress of the schools has been slow, in 1913 less than one-fourth of the children of Lutheran parents attended these pa rochial schools. Like all else that sav ored of Teutonic culture these schools were severely criticized during the years 1914-1920 and the result has been a decline in the number of children attending.