Nun on a mission to save Catholic schools

Chicago Tribune (MCT) - Dressed in black from her nun's habit to her patent leather flats, Sister Mary Paul McCaughey walks a different path than most school superintendents, and even most Roman Catholic sisters.

Instead of a firm handshake, McCaughey, superintendent of Chicago Catholic Schools, greets principals with a big bear hug. Visiting schools across the archdiocese, she bursts into classrooms, praising teachers with high-fives and joking with students about Fat Tuesday. Even in meetings, her colleagues and critics alike are disarmed and charmed by her loud laugh, feisty attitude and courage to speak her mind on how to save Chicago's struggling Catholic schools.

"We're at a point for our Catholic school system where we really need to hold on to what's a treasure," McCaughey said. "But we also need to look at new models of governance, of financing."

"If everyone in the Catholic community gave the price of a latte a week, we'd have no financial crisis in Catholic schools," she said. "So, if we know that this is the way to have a future for our church of articulate, faith-filled adults, why aren't we doing it? It just seems like a no-brainer."

Only eight months on the job as head of the nation's largest Catholic school system, McCaughey, 59, is already taking steps to reinvent Chicago's Catholic schools. On Monday, she will announce the establishment of a newly formed archdiocesan school board responsible for implementing a new vision for the schools. In coming months, she expects to reopen two closed Catholic schools as learning evangelization centers, a different school model from preschool to second grade. She also plans to explore charter-school conversions, corporate tax credits, and public and private partnerships to fund cash-strapped schools.

"Nothing is off the table," she said.

McCaughey's ambitious plans for change come as Catholic schools nationwide are confronting crisis. In Washington, D.C., Archbishop Donald Wuerl last year closed seven Catholic schools and turned them over to a charter group. Last month, Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio said four Catholic schools would be converted into public charter schools. In Chicago, the Catholic schools system faces soaring costs and fewer students, and relies heavily on financial support from the archdiocese and the Big Shoulders Fund to close a $9 million deficit.

But James J. O'Connor, co-chair of the Big Shoulders Fund, which provides assistance to inner-city Catholic schools, said he believes McCaughey's no-nonsense style and bold ideas will bring change.

"You have a certain view of what a nun would be like. It's fairly conservative, very thoughtful, and cautious. She's not!" O'Connor said with a laugh. "She doesn't want to sit idly by and let things deteriorate, and she's going to make a difference."

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McCaughey even set a deadline for herself. If new initiatives for funding schools don't materialize in three years, McCaughey said she would quit.

"With the help of my board, if some of these things are not in place, like a scholarship fund, an exploration of new models, a re-education of the Catholic community, if I don't see the system strengthening, I will quit in three years. And I really mean that," she said.

Born in Chicago and raised in an Irish-Catholic home, McCaughey attended Catholic elementary schools, then went onto Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights. At 17, she told her parents she wanted to become a nun with the Dominican Sisters of Springfield, Ill.

Her mother, Dorothy, was so shocked by the decision that on the day her daughter left for the convent, the mother locked herself in the car and refused to get out and say goodbye.

"She was not happy and ... it was hard," McCaughey recalled. "It's a hard thing to explain to people ... she's much better now. But, it's taken her many years."

Yet McCaughey never doubted her calling as a Catholic sister and teacher. She spent 15 years teaching before becoming principal of Sacred Heart-Griffin High School in Springfield in 1985. She left in 1992 to head Marian High School, raising $5.6 million for improvements.

Her 37 years of experience in the Catholic schools earned her deep respect from principals and teachers. Many are also impressed by her promise to visit all 258 Catholic schools by the end of the year. So far, she has visited 186 schools. "She's been a Chicago principal, and that means a lot," said David Burke, principal of Epiphany School in Little Village. "When one of your own becomes the superintendent, you know that she understands your problems."

Principals say the biggest problem is money. With rising tuition, many Catholic families find schools unaffordable. In addition, the loss of clergy and nuns who worked for low wages led to increases in school payrolls and competition with public schools for teachers. Moreover, the economic recession could make fundraising from corporations a challenge.

Even so, McCaughey sees hope. Her goal is that every Catholic parent who wants a Catholic education for their child should be able to send them to a Catholic school. Her challenge is convincing others to support her vision.

"We have to say as a Catholic community, this is just like Catholic Charities. This is our mission," she said. "The church needs to look at this and say, 'These are our children.' "

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© 2009, Chicago Tribune.