Forty percent of its students aren't even Catholic. Education is second, religion is third. As many public school reformers urge, Catholic schools are given enormous autonomy to shape their academic program but get held accountable for results. He scrambles for grants for computers. If you haven't mastered the material, you repeat the grade.
Religion beats the status quo To be sure, there's lots of religion.
Imagine you're poor. The public school to which your kids are assigned doesn't work and isn't safe. I'd fight to send my daughter to an oasis like San Raphael in a second. I'd teach her why we viewed the religious specifics differently at home. But there's no contradiction between giving some kids a lifeline through much bigger voucher trials while simultaneously working to improve the public schools.