Cavazos Praises Curriculum at N.Y. Slum School

U.S. Education Secretary Lauro F. Cavazos visited a Roman Catholic elementary school in one of the nation’s most depressed urban communities Thursday, praising its unusual blend of art and academics.

“I think that any school that is well run, that is orderly, that is free of drugs, all schools should be like that,” Cavazos said.

St. Augustine School of the Arts, for kindergartners through eighth-graders, nearly all of whom are black, was profiled in December on CBS’ “60 Minutes” as an educational oasis in a slum section of the South Bronx.

Despite his praise for the school, Cavazos indicated to reporters that he was not interested in renewing the debate over whether parents of Catholic and other private school students should get tuition tax credits or vouchers.

“I’m not really pushing for tuition tax credits or vouchers,” Cavazos said.

But Principal Thomas Pilecki said he remained optimistic.

‘Don’t Have Any Money’

“I’m hopeful his visit here will help him see the strength of Catholic schools,” Pilecki said. “We don’t have any money at all. We don’t have a cent.”

From the 1970s through 1984, the school’s enrollment dropped from about 500 to less than 200, and the New York archdiocese was threatening to close it. But St. Augustine began an unusual curriculum built around a fine-arts program in 1984, and enrollment now stands at 320. Tuition is $1,100 a year.

The curriculum combines the usual academic subjects with instruction in art, dance and especially music, taught by professionals. Piano is mandatory through fourth grade. Each student must also learn one other instrument.

St. Augustine is the only parochial school in the archdiocese specializing in fine arts. Unlike most fine-arts schools, it admits all comers, regardless of talent.

The arts program is supported by about $350,000 a year in foundation and corporate grants.

But finances are sometimes so tight that “at times teachers have been asked not to cash their paychecks,” said Father Robert Jeffers, pastor of St. Augustine.