Technology entrepreneur and philanthropist Harvey Najim recently announced a $1 million gift to fund scholarships for children attending Catholic schools.
Najim said he believes that Catholic school graduates are more “well-rounded,” less likely to become involved in drugs or criminal activity and more likely to attend church than their public school peers.
“Unfortunately, I think that the faith-based schools and the charter schools are doing a much better job than the traditional school districts,” said Najim, who’s also supporting an effort to bring a select group of charter school operators to San Antonio and made a $1 million donation to St. Mary’s University last month.
“Najim backs Catholic schools with $1 million”, Lindsay Kastner, San Antonio Express-News, January 27, 2013.
Najim’s million dollar gift went to Hope for the Future, a fund that provides tuition assistance for children who want to attend Catholic schools in San Antonio. As mentioned in the quote, Najim is also a supporter of charter schools—specifically, of Choose to Succeed, a coordinated effort to bring high-performing charter schools to San Antonio, as mentioned in my earlier post.
More views about Catholic schools: “The Uncertain Future of San Antonio’s Inner City Catholic Schools”, Robert Rivard, Rivard Report, January 8, 2013; “Amid a Host of Parents, a Catholic School Thrives”, Cynthia Gudowski Luna, Rivard Report, January 31, 2013 (by the principal of St. Anthony School in Monte Vista).
I salute Najim for strengthening the community of Catholic schools in San Antonio because they provide parents with more choices for rigorous education. Also, Catholic schools provide a faith-based education, which charter schools (as public schools) can not do.
