School Organization.—In accordance with the Church's organization, Catholic elementary education is framed along diocesan lines. Each diocese has its school system, with the bishop at its head. Bishops, however, are bound by the legislation of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore, which prescribed a definite form of school organization for all the dioceses. General legislation has thus operated to give a certain measure of unity to parish-school work the country over, while local needs and inter ests are left to be provided for by the dioc esan authorities Diocesan control over the schools is usually exercised through the dio cesan school board, presided over by the bishop. The members are selected from the clergy of the diocese; in some places the laity are included. In the prevailing type of school organization the school board includes,. as its executive officer, a diocesan superintendent of schools. The priest who is selected for this office is specially trained for his work; he de votes his time to the inspection of schools and to the study of the problems involved in their improvement, and his recommendations are embodied in an annual report submitted to the school board. As assistants to the superin tendent there are in many dioceses community inspectors of schools. As a rule, there are many teaching orders engaged in any given diocese, and when each community appoints one of its members to inspect and study the work that is being done in its own schools in the diocese, the result is to give the superin tendent a corps of zealous and efficient assist ants through whose co-operation his recom mendations may the more easily be given prac tical effect. In the case of the individual par ish school, the pastor is, of course, by right its head; but generally speaking beyond supervis ing the religious instruction and financial mat ters, he leaves the direction and control of the school to the superior of the Sisters or Brothers in charge. The actual principal of the school is therefore the immediate religious su perior. The teachers usually live in or near the school building, which is in close proximity to the parish church. About nine-tenths of the teachers in the parish schools are religious. Male teachers are less than one-fifteenth of the total number. Nearly 300 distinct com munities are engaged in the work, including single independent houses as well as congrega tions. Of these, 11 are teaching brotherhoods. The curriculum of the parish school does not, as a rule, show any substantial difference from the curriculum of the neighboring public schools, except in the matter of religious instruction.
The training course for religious teachers embraces the postulate, the novitiate and the normal school. In the postulate are comprised the elements of a good common-school educa tion and some high school work; during- the novitiate — generally of one year is continued, but the chief aim is the religious formation of the candidate; in the normal school, proximate preparation is made for the work of teaching, through suitable studies, while more advanced academic courses, sometimes leading to the college degree, are also taken up. Such is the training course that obtains in the more progressive communities; in many instances, however, this ideal pro gram is not strictly adhered to in practice, owing to the demand for teachers. But the tendency is steadily toward higher standards.
Much has been accomplished in this direction through the work of summer institutes and summer schools conducted especially for teach ers by colleges and universities. Worthy of special mention in this connection is the Sisters' College, at the Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C. Many sisterhoods are now sending picked young teachers to this institution for college and university courses as well as normal-school training. Money for the support of the schools is obtained from three sources, tuition fees, the parish treasury and endowments. The amount derived from the last-mentioned source is practically a negligible quantity, except in the case of a few favored schools. The tuition fee — the fee ranging from 50 cents to a dollar a month—was long the prevailing source of school revenue, but of late years it has been replaced to a great extent by the simpler and more direct means of support, the parish treasury, especially in the cities and larger towns. Schools thus sup ported. are called "free schools." In many places, in accordance with the practice in pub lic schools, textbooks are also supplied free. The salaries of sisters engaged in parith school work probably average $25 per month, or $250 per year. Brothers who teach in the palish schools generally receive from $300 to $400 a year. Teachers in Catholic schools thus receive less than one-half the salary of public school teachers of the same class, and in many parts of the country they receive barely one third as much. Yet out of their slender sal aries the religious teachers have not. only to maintain themselves, but also to save some thing as a contribution to the support of the mother-house and its various establishments, such as the training schools, the infirmary, etc. Only by the practice of the strictest economy, joined to the most devoted personal self-sac rifice, are the members of religious communi ties enabled to accomplish these objects success fully. As might be inferred from the above data elementary education in Catholic schools costs less than one-half as much as elementary education in public schools. The actual cost per capita of Catholic elementary schooling throughout the country averages only from eight to nine dollars a year.
Alongside the parish-school system there have been developed secondary schools or high schools. These belong to several distinct types: the college preparatory school; the parish high school —an adjunct of a particular parish school; the diocesan high school, under the control of the bishop; and the independent high school, conducted by a religious order and more or less independent of diocesan control. There is a strong movement toward the more general establishment of diocesan high schools, since these form an integral part of the dioc esan school system and thus contribute more effectively to the unification of Catholic edu cational work. Notable among institutions of this class, for their typical character and in fluence, are the Boys' Central High School and the Girls' High School in Philadelphia.
An important agency in the changes that have been brought about in Catholic education in the direction of more perfect organization has been the Catholic Educational Association, which was organized in 1904, and includes three main departments — schools, colleges and seminaries.