Wanted: Your Observations on The State of the Christian Day School

Forty years ago new schools were opening each year. Most Christian Day Schools had an academically qualified faculty that included science and math teachers as well as fine arts programs.

Having been connected to Christian schools throughout 32 years of ministry, I would suggest one of the problems is with the above quotation.

First, too many churches started schools that shouldn’t have. In fact, my first pastoral ministry experience (1980-82) was in a church that split off another, and the first priority after splitting was to get a building up so school could start with the handful of kids! (By the way, that school no longer exists). A few years later, I became pastor of a church operating an ACE school…that is, until I found out that achievement test scores were kept from the parents because they were so low. Naturally, when I revealed the scores to the parents, most pulled their kids out. The school closed the end of that year—as indeed it should have.

Second, My experience confirms the frequent complaint I’ve heard, read, and been warned about: Christian schools were terribly lax in hiring well-qualified faculty, especially in the areas of science and math. Many teachers are/were expected to teach in areas in which they had little if any training. And fine arts training has been fairly narrow and lacking in quality. Another related issue concerns below-poverty-level teacher salaries. For example, very few schools could afford to hire well-qualified, seasoned, experienced, credentialed teachers. Nor could they afford to pay a head of household enough to support a family. So, single females and husband-wife teams are hired out of college. But in a year or two the wife gets pregnant (loss of teacher #1), husband has to find additional work to supplement his income, lasts for a couple years, maybe, before teacher #2 leaves. Then the cycle begins again. These quality issues have impacted the movement as a whole because parents can’t see spending thousands of dollars every year for a substandard education. Our community is a microcosm of this problem. The only evangelical Christian school is on the verge of closing its doors. Tuition is $4000+/year; enrollment is fewer than 50, last I heard, and it’s dropped every year that I’ve been in the area. In contrast, the Catholic parochial schools are doing well, as is the Lutheran school, yet the tuition is comparable. The quality of education is decidedly not.

Concerning finances, there may be another subtle issue going on with fundamentalist schools. I seriously doubt very many families in fundamentalist churches are willing to pay the tuition rates that a high-quality education from a truly professional, qualified, adequately paid faculty would demand. Furthermore, the sponsoring churches themselves are unwilling or unable to subsidize their schools like they have in the past. Some actually realize the school-centered ministry has taken them off-mission, and they’re no longer willing to go in that direction.

Another factor IMO is the failure to deliver on “the promise,” leaving parents and church members disenchanted with the investment. Christian schools were supposed to produce “an army of soldiers for Christ” who would become missionaries (replenishing the depleting numbers), pastor churches, teach in Christian schools, etc. Through the years, however, a fairly small percentage of CS graduates have sought to pursue vocational ministry. Further adding to the disenchantment is the number of graduates who have either left fundamentalism, the church, and/or the faith.

Then, of course, there’s the corresponding homeschool movement, largely fueled by the above-mentioned concerns. Parents think they can do just as effective a job as the teachers in their church’s (or the local) Christian school, they don’t have to shell out thousands of dollars to fund their children’s education, and they’re more likely to deliver on “the promise” themselves. So, the Christian school receives fewer students, less money, and a shorter lifespan.

Having said all that, I fully realize there are exceptions to all I’ve written. I’m reflecting general observations as a pastor personally connected to Christian schools in 5 different states over the past 30+ years.

I’d second that post, although I don’t think teacher credentials are a reliable indicator of teacher quality.

Schools must employ people who have the gift of teaching and thorough subject knowledge, and pay them a living wage. This requires charging a tuition that will meet that need. With public education being provided for free, and the option of homeschooling available at a very low cost, good Christian schools self-select for two income/high income families.

One of the problem I saw in those years of a Christian school boom was calling the school a ‘ministry’ and expecting teachers to work for a pittance, or teach outside their expertise. So the basketball coach is teaching science, and the music teacher is teaching typing and overseeing the yearbook. Then, when they can’t make it on the tuition that comes in from Christian families, they start treating the school like rehab and bringing kids in from dysfunctional homes (who won’t support the discipline of the school) and kids who were kicked out of public school and need to get straightened out.

A traditional school is an undertaking that many (probably most) churches are not equipped to provide.

[Susan R]

I’d second that post, although I don’t think teacher credentials are a reliable indicator of teacher quality.

This is absolutely true; however, that a teacher has a degree in education from a reputable college and is state-certified to teach in her hired position indicates a likelihood of competence that is vastly superior to “preacher thinks she can do a good job cuz she’s gotta good heart and went to Bible college and took history and English…so sure she can teach the 4-6th grade class!”

HAVING credentials don’t guarantee quality, but LACKING them should demand rigorous demonstration that quality won’t suffer.

[BryanBice]

[Susan R]

I’d second that post, although I don’t think teacher credentials are a reliable indicator of teacher quality.

This is absolutely true; however, that a teacher has a degree in education from a reputable college and is state-certified to teach in her hired position indicates a likelihood of competence that is vastly superior to “preacher thinks she can do a good job cuz she’s gotta good heart and went to Bible college and took history and English…so sure she can teach the 4-6th grade class!”

HAVING credentials don’t guarantee quality, but LACKING them should demand rigorous demonstration that quality won’t suffer.

I agree, I simply think it is important that folks realize that certification isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.

It is true that being a great Sunday School teacher doesn’t indicate a person will be a great math teacher. But if I had a nickel for every teacher that was competent in their subject area and yet hated being with children…

I’ve seen the reasoning you’ve humorously illustrated used, particularly in churches that viewed their schools as a ministry. I would not characterize schools as businesses either, but there are enough similarities between traditional schools and businesses that make churches rather inadequate, IMO, to provide quality education.