Chicagoist: School Says No Cash, No Learning

A.Paige

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 13:16:37 -0600

As a marian student I feel the need to tell the complete truth about the situation. They did call kids down for less than $100. My friends were called down for $25 & $60. They continue to say over the announ. "Someone handed us $60 cash (on the day the incident took place) in an envelope can someone please come claim it so we can put it on your account. So my first reaction is, "Why are they telling the media they only called down students who were over a certain dollar amount, when that's not true? So much for Veritas?" It was an awful situation. I was roaming around during my study hall doing errands when I walked by the office with upset friends on cellphones and parents upset as well. Frosh & Soph don't have cars. There aren't buses. Most underclassmen carpool to school. So it was really hard for those kids to get home. Meanwhile the line that circled through the halls distupted all the english classes & math classes down that hallway. It was a pointless day to learn with tons of kids missing in our classes. Some teachers didn't teach because the majority of our classes had been pulled out before lunch, & they didn't want them to fall behind. Some of my friends left school only to return back because Marian finally found their payments. It was an embarassment to have an opposing basketball team's fans cheer "pay your tuition" when our boys were shooting free-throws at their regional game. I love Marian whole heartedly. It's done great things for me, but this really tainted how proud I used to be when I said I go to Marian Catholic.

DMLAWYER

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:42:59 -0600

Isn't this the same Catholic Church who's leaders implore the Government feed, clothe, educate and house illegal immigrants, at taxpayer expense ? But then they kick out and mistreat their own ?

jackson93

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 12:33:33 -0600

I don't see the reasoning for dealing with 300 late payments on one day. Some parents were more delinquent than others - maybe deal with those cases first. And there is a difference between something being noticeable and having 20% of the student body lined up in the hall. Who knows what attempts the school made to contact parents previously, but this problem didn't happen overnight. I am sure there are different ways this could have been handled that didn't involve the public humiliation of 300 kids.

Mary_Sunshine

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:37:14 -0600

I totally agree this was probably a "tough times" situation, but you don't as a responsible parent just stop paying. As a kid whose single mother had a LOT of payment problems, I can't tell you how far a phone call can go, explaining the situation. As I said before, I'm curious as to how many parents actually did that. And really, with 300 kids affected what could the school have done that wasn't noticeable? You call 300 kids out of class one at a time, word is still going to get out. Maybe I'm giving the school too much credit, but I highly doubt that there weren't multiple (private) letters sent before this happened.

jackson93

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:27:29 -0600

Yes, of course parents should pay the tuition. And unfortunately, sometimes kids do have to transfer because their parents can no longer pay the tuition. Part of the problem was the way this was handled. There is a way to handle this that is discreet and respectful - what Marian did was very public and very disrespectful. Lining 300 kids up in the hall because their parents hadn't paid is humiliating and unnecessary. Sending 100 kids home midday is embarrassing and irresponsible. Doing all of this when the school's phone and internet service is down is idiotic. Also, I think it is inaccurate to call the parents liars. Most of them probably could pay the bills when the kid started school but are experiencing unexpected financial difficulties because of the economy. And not all of the parents were equally behind in their payments. Not everyone owed $5000 - some parents were just one month behind in their payments. As a former student there, I know how problems like that were handled in the past and it was quite different from this situation.

Mary_Sunshine

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:09:51 -0600

To punish children for the actions of their parents Isn't that what always happens though when a child has a parent who overextends him/herself financially? A parent enrolls a kid in a private school and can't pay the bill, the kid can't go there anymore. It's kind of the same as a parent not paying the electric bill. The kid sits in the dark. Parents' actions always have an effect on their children--good or bad. And whether it's Christian or not, well, making an agreement to pay tuition, so your child can get a better education, or for whatever reason, and then defaulting by 5,000 dollars isn't a very Christian thing either. In fact, it's lying. "Yes, I'll pay until things get rough" was not the agreement. I feel bad for these kids, but I don't think the school can/should operate with 300 children whose parents felt they could put off paying the bill. I wonder how many of them contacted the school asking to make arrangements to pay their bills late.

Mary_Sunshine

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:09:16 -0600

JessNevins

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 10:21:55 -0600

WWJB Who Would Jesus Bill?

jack

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:57:31 -0600

as a marian alumni parent, i am appalled at the treatment these students were given. with 3 kids through 10 yrs at marian, i know it can be tough. however, they always offered to work with you if you were having financial difficulty. i know if sr. mary paul were still there, this wouldn't have happened. what a shame!

sparky

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:37:18 -0600

So according to their website, Marian accepts its mission to "teach as Jesus did". Hmmm. Would Jesus have turned away disciples because they couldn't pay? Doesn't seem like they are living out their mission. I know that there were better ways they could have handled it. In this economy, everyone is struggling. To punish children for the actions of their parents isn't very Christian. The president of the school says "We are very apologetic to the parents. We tried to treat them with respect and dignity, but it was difficult." And yet they did it anyway.

Ingrid

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 08:19:28 -0600

And yet the Catholic church has no problem paying millions upon million of dollars to defend sex offenders and give payouts to their victims. I went to the same Catholic church and school for 8 years and I can't even begin to count the hours my dad did menial work for the nuns and priests...plumbing, carpentry...you name it. And this was expected to be done for free. Like he didn't work enough double shifts in the factory he slaved away at his whole adult life.

jackson93

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 21:01:06 -0600

I went to Marian. When parents had trouble paying tuition, the school dealt with the matters discreetly. Of course the school needs to collect the tuition money. But this is an absolutely awful way to handle it. To line kids up in the hall and send kids home in the middle of day is cruel and embarrassing. Kids don't control their parents' actions. There are ways to handle this without publicly humiliating students. Also, the school's internet and phone systems had been knocked out by the storm on sunday, meaning that parents could not call the school to see how much they owed or make payments on the phone or make online payments. The school was actually using kids' cell phones to call the parents. They could have at least waited until their systems were back up and running.

JessNevins

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:31:50 -0600

I went to an all boys Catholic HS too, on the north side (Pats) and did work study on the weekends to cover my tuition. Cleaning gutters, mopping floors and scrapping gum from seats. Weird thing was, the kids on detention got the SAME JOBS. This was handled badly. I know they need the money, but those kids were humiliated because of their parent's financial short falls. Sure, they need to pay the bills, but you're a damn school, can't you come up with more educated response?

Ward Up

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 19:41:45 -0600

Having attended an all-boys Catholic high school on the South Side, I knew kids whose families had a tough time with the tuition. But at some point, the school has to get tough. If the school doesn't get tough, then the ability to teach the paid-up students is diminished. Everybody loses. Maybe they could have done things differently at Marian Catholic. But their hearts are in the right place.

annieF

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:53:25 -0600

this is really sad. Catholic schools already get by on limited resources & in many cases better than public schools with guaranteed money. the relationship with Catholic charities though is more of an indirect relationship due to the church affiliation (see mission). i think the charity association that's more appropriate is: www.bigshouldersfund.org And i bet they're hurting just as bad if not worse than most non-profits.