Will $2,600 Purchase a Private School Education? : Vouchers: The answer probably depends on how hard you look and how old your children are. The overwhelming majority are religiously affiliated.

Armed with vouchers worth about $2,600 per student, could parents who can spare little or nothing extra find a good, affordable private or parochial academy for their children?

That question has been a contentious point in the fight over Proposition 174, the sweeping measure on Tuesday’s ballot that would allow parents of school-age children to redeem tax-funded vouchers at private and parochial schools.

The answer, in the end, would probably depend on how hard you look, how old your children are and how you view religion.

That there are schools costing $2,600 or less a year is not in doubt: A widely cited statewide survey last year found that 62% of private institutions willing to accept vouchers fall in the $2,600 range.

However, leaders of private school organizations and various studies agree that the overwhelming majority are religiously affiliated, most of them Roman Catholic elementary campuses supported by local parishes.

Secondary schools, as well as independent or nonsectarian private establishments at all levels, tend to be pricier, with tuition at some hitting five digits. This is true especially at prestigious college-prep schools in affluent neighborhoods, such as Harvard-Westlake in Studio City or the Buckley School in Sherman Oaks.

Although pro-voucher forces predict that more affordable schools would spring up if the initiative were to pass, private school officials acknowledge that the current options are fairly limited for parents who want a nonsectarian education, but whose pocketbooks would demand that a voucher cover nearly the entire cost.

“You won’t find many (schools) that are less than or even able to keep it to the $2,600 (level) that are not religious, and that’s because most of the religious schools are subsidized,” said Dean Dammann, vice president of the California Assn. of Private School Organizations.

“The reality of it is, it costs more than $2,600 to educate a child.”

Nevertheless, a handful of non-religious schools fall within range of a voucher--roughly half of what the state spends per pupil in public schools. Most of these have found ways to cut overhead costs that drive up prices with such tactics as having property donated or negotiating low-rent agreements.

Take the Carden Academy of Huntington Beach, one of hundreds of schools across the country that follows the back-to-basics philosophy of Mae Carden, founder of a movement named after her in the 1930s.

The school has operated on the same acre site in Orange County for 14 years. Its co-founders own the building, enabling the school to keep tuition at $2,700, plus a testing and materials fee.

The 240-student school places a premium on teaching youngsters to read and write early using phonics. Children memorize poetry to recite at a monthly assembly and receive French lessons twice a week--part of the required lesson plan at all Carden schools.

“It’s a total curriculum--you’re into the arts, PE, French, science and math,” Director Edith Hanlon said. “The way it’s taught is in small groups.”

Class sizes never exceed 24, and instructors--all of whom hold teaching credentials--often break their classes into smaller sections to work more closely with students.

Students are generally expected to perform at their proper grade level; a diagnostic exam is administered to applicants, and all students take a standardized achievement test every year.

Many such small, independent schools lack the resources to cater to pupils who have fallen behind or have special needs or disabilities. Such services often come with high price tags that would far exceed the value of a $2,600 voucher, say educators in the public and private sectors.

Some campuses try to fill the gap with limited tutoring services. At the Creative Learning Center in the Crenshaw district, Joyce and Oscar Madison have established reading and math labs where youngsters who require extra help can go for remedial work.

“That’s really the selling point of our school,” said Joyce Madison, a former reading specialist with the Compton Unified School District whose center is in its 21st year. “Parents are looking for schools that will take in slow learners.”

The other big draw of the center is a child-care program from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., included in the $2,800 yearly fee.

But like many proprietary schools--and even plush academies--the Creative Learning Center relies heavily on the parents of its 200 students to volunteer and raise funds. The elementary school struggles to keep its small library stocked and to purchase updated software for its computer lab.

Equipment, textbooks and materials become even more expensive on secondary campuses, which must outfit their classrooms with microscopes and copies of “Romeo and Juliet” instead of magnifying glasses and reading primers.

The higher costs mean that independent high schools charging about $2,600 or less are difficult--if not impossible--to find. Mimi Baer, executive director of the California Assn. of Independent Schools, said the average tuition at secondary academies in her organization ranges between $8,000 and $10,000 annually.

Only high schools subsidized by outside agencies can afford to keep prices relatively low, and they are almost always religiously based, private school officials say. In Southern California, the archdiocese of Los Angeles administers 27 high schools, where tuition runs about $2,400 to $2,600 for Catholic students and up to $3,100 for non-Catholic students.

At Alemany High School in Mission Hills, described by archdiocesan officials as fairly typical, the curriculum takes a cue from admission requirements for the University of California. The school is accredited by the Western Assn. of Schools and Colleges--important for college admissions--and offers honors and advanced placement classes from calculus to Spanish, extracurricular clubs and after-school sports.

Officials say about 80% of Alemany students go on to two- or four-year colleges. Class size, at about 35 students, does not differ sharply from public schools, but parents say they do not have to deal with other concerns, such as safety, that plague public school parents.

Also important to Northridge resident Tony Lufrano is the spiritual component at Alemany, where a mandatory religion course teaches Catholic values on social justice, marriage and family life.

“They really get a quality education and a faculty who care,” said Lufrano, a management consultant whose three sons have attended Alemany. “And the fact that they do have some religious training prepares them to be more rounded citizens in terms of concern for others.”

Public and Private School Requirements

California’s public schools are governed by an 11,000-page Education Code. Private schools are much more lightly regulated, particularly in the area of academic quality. Here is a comparison of some state laws concerning curriculum, teacher qualifications, pupil testing and welfare. Description of statutes: Requires specific courses be taught in grades 1-12, such as English, math, social science and health Apply to Public Schools?: Yes Apply to Private Schools?: No

*Description of statutes: Requires high schools to provide courses that satisfy CSU and UC admission requirements Apply to Public Schools?: Yes Apply to Private Schools?: No

*Description of statutes: When asked, schools must provide parents with a School Accountability Report Card showing overall student achievement, campus crime levels and dropout rates Apply to Public Schools?: Yes Apply to Private Schools?: No

*Description of statutes: Requires schools to employ only teachers with California teaching credentials Apply to Public Schools?: Yes Apply to Private Schools?: No*

*Description of statutes: Prohibits employing or retaining sexual psychopaths, or people convicted of sex or controlled substance offenses Apply to Public Schools?: Yes Apply to Private Schools?: No

*Description of statutes: Teachers are mandated to report known or suspected child abuse ( Per Penal Code Section ) Apply to Public Schools?: Yes Apply to Private Schools?: Yes

*Description of statutes: Sets a minimum length for the school day and school year Apply to Public Schools?: Yes Apply to Private Schools?: No

*Description of statutes: Requires early diagnosis of learning disabilities Apply to Public Schools?: Yes Apply to Private Schools?: No

*Description of statutes: Requires statewide school testing programs be administered, such as the CAP tests Apply to Public Schools?: Yes Apply to Private Schools?: No

*Description of statutes: Sets required numbers of specific courses for high school graduation Apply to Public Schools?: Yes Apply to Private Schools?: No

*Description of statutes: Prohibits corporal punishment Apply to Public Schools?: Yes Apply to Private Schools?: No

*Description of statutes: Requires schools to provide parental access to pupil records Apply to Public Schools?: Yes Apply to Private Schools?: Yes

* Private school teachers must only be “persons capable of teaching”

SOURCE: California Department of Education