The girls of St. Barnabas had to scramble to find a new high school. All Hallows rescued them, opening its doors to girls for the first time in 115 years. Then, in January, a familiar email arrived.

The Educational Choice for Children Act in Congress would model Florida’s successful school-choice program, boosting Catholic schoools, which have proven records of success.

There were 5,905 U.S. Catholic schools in operation during the 2023-24 school year, down from approximately 11,000 in 1970, according to the National Catholic Education Association.

In the 2024-2025 school year, there were 1.6 million Catholic school students and more than 150,000 professional staff members, with a student to teacher ratio of about 11 to 1.