GoBigEd

Wednesday, August 18, 2010


KUDOS TO CHILDREN'S SCHOLARSHIP FUND:
HELPING 2,000 POOR KIDS GO TO PRIVATE SCHOOL

If you want to help a low-income child have the choice to attend private school instead of public school, donate to the Children's Scholarship Fund of Omaha, 3212 N. 60th St., 68104, or call 557-5650 ext. 1906 or 1908.

The organization's annual luncheon recently disclosed that donors helped 2,000 children in 23 northeast Nebraska counties, including Omaha, attend private schools through tuition assistance provided by the donors to the scholarship fund.

According to outgoing president J. Peter Ricketts, the program's effectiveness is shown by this statistic: 96% of the scholarshipped students who leave Holy Name School in Omaha's inner city go on to graduate from high school. That compares to an overall graduation rate in the inner city of less than 50%.

Around the country, the evidence is mounting that private education works better for disadvantaged children than public education.

New donors are being sought for the Nebraska group because of the recession. The poor economy has increased the need for tuition assistance at the same time as it has eroded giving power among existing donors. Ricketts said that there is only enough money to give 200 additional scholarships on top of the ones already being given this year, but the group has more than 1,300 new applications for the 2010-11 school year.

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Comments:
One good example of private schools for the disadvantaged in Omaha is St. Peter Claver in South Omaha.The kids work one day a week for tuition. The curricula is pre-college. About 90% of the kids are receiving free or reduced lunches. Nationally, similar Catholic schools have a 92% rate of college attendees.Not real fancy equipment, but enough, and a SOLID grounding in the basics, no nonsense.How quaint! (But, it works!)
 
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