Educational choice for families, and a chicken in every pot

While politicians speak of change, one thing is consistent: for more than 200 years, Catholic schools have been champions of social justice in providing quality education to all, especially those in immigrant and underserved communities.

It is my belief that education is the basic and lasting way to break the cycle of poverty. Built on the Gospel message, Catholic schools create student-centered learning environments that affirm cultural identities; foster positive academic outcomes; develop students’ abilities to connect across lines of difference; elevate historically marginalized voices; empower students as agents of social change; and contribute to individual student engagement, learning, growth, and achievement through the cultivation of critical thinking.

While society is constantly redefining social norms, the foundational message of love of neighbor and love of God continues to be a foundational element of Catholic education. It is Jesus’ teaching that all are created in the image and likeness of God — and that we therefore have the ability to call each other brothers and sisters and to call God our Father — that compels us as a Church to treat and teach all equally.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is how truly essential are the simple things we once took for granted. A chicken in every pot, attending school in a classroom, participating in sporting events, and so many other aspects of life may not have seemed so essential before, yet now we are longing for them. I am grateful that quarantine and unrest have allowed me to rediscover the basics and to see value in the simple and essential.

As vicar for development of the Brooklyn diocese, where our diverse student body is 60 percent minorities, I oversee Futures in Education, a scholarship fund that seeks to provide a Catholic education regardless of a family’s ability to pay. Each year the challenge of providing needs-based tuition assistance to families making under $30,000 a year is much greater than our ability to fundraise.

Catholic school graduation rates in communities of all economic and racial backgrounds surpass those of New York City’s public schools and demonstrate how, for an average of $7,000 per child plus the love of Christ, we are providing children with the tools they need to be successful. New York’s spending on public elementary and secondary education hit a new all-time high of $24,040 per pupil during the 2017-18 school year, topping all states in the latest U.S. Census data.

Why should any child be denied an education grounded in the love of Christ and motivated by empowerment and divine wisdom if they want it?

Imagine if all parents had true educational choice when deciding what school their children should attend — not based on what they could afford, but based on what school is best for their child to succeed. If this were the case, our Catholic schools would be full, many more would have been able to remain open in our inner cities, and the means to providing the opportunity to break the cycle of poverty and make a systemic difference ending in equality would be established.

Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello is vicar for development of the
Brooklyn diocese and host of the NET-TV cooking show Breaking Bread. He is pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel-Annunciation Parish in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Basic stuffed chicken breast

Ingredients:
Flattened chicken breast
Olive oil
3 oz. spinach
3 oz. roasted peppers
2 slices Monterey jack cheese
½ c. milk
½ stick butter (4 oz.)
1 tablespoon vanilla
All-purpose seasoning
Parsley
Paprika

Directions:
Brush a little olive oil on top of the flattened chicken breast; sprinkle some all-purpose seasoning on the chicken.

Place a few leaves of spinach, roasted peppers, and Monterey jack cheese on flattened chicken piece.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small saucepan over low heat, warm milk, butter, and vanilla.

Now roll up the chicken breast; secure with tied string if needed; place in oblong baking dish. Brush a little olive oil on the outside of the chicken breast; pour warmed sauce over meat.

Sprinkle on a little parsley and paprika, then place in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Serve with a side of string beans and seasoned rice. Enjoy.