The central office of Seattle Public Schools employs more than 500 people to oversee 100 public schools with 48,000 students. Catholic schools in Seattle's south end struggle to meet the ever-expanding emotional and health needs of the families they serve. Principals agonize over ways to pay their teachers at rates comparable to public school salaries. Firmly rooted as they are, these schools are vulnerable to neighborhood poverty in ways the public schools are not. Up to half the incomes of sponsoring parishes go to the schools.
Parents often work two jobs to pay tuition.
The Archdiocese of Seattle assists in emergencies, but its funds are spread among schools in 19 western Washington counties. The schools also get some subsidies in the form of teacher and parent volunteer work. Donations from wealthy individuals and philanthropies account for less than five percent of their budgets. Catholic schools represent an option for students whom the public schools are not serving well, providing links to higher education and employment for many poor and minority children. They do not weaken public schools, which are already struggling to find space for a growing south-end population, but they do strengthen the city.