re: Baton Rouge private schools vs. public schools

I'd just like to add a few points of clarification. It's important to note that "private schools" and "parochial schools" really should fall into different catagories.

The mission of a parochial school, should, and usually does, differ from that of private schools. A parochial school's mission is to best serve the needs of the children in the parish, primarily by providing religious education (and spiritual/character development in a Catholic environment). Educational excellence and athletic excellence are important, but they are SECONDARY.

In real terms, parochial schools should have a broader academic spectrum of students than most private schools. It's not really surprising that the Gifted and Talented programs, or the Magnet schools, or the competative private schools often have higher aggregate test scores.

Having said all of that, it is also true that most Catholic high schools are not true "parochial schools". There has been some specialization among the high school options within a diocese, with some schools considered college prep (most) and others that offer more of a middle ground for average students. Catholic schools don't do a very good job of providing catholic education for needy students, (I'll try not to be too judgemental on this point, because I'm sure there are some very difficult financial and logistical hurdles to provide for special needs children, but I do think more should be done by the catholic school system to address these needs.)

Back to the point about religious and character development. Those issues are so intertwined in disciplinary policy, teacher/student relationships, and school "environment" that it's difficult not to sound vacuous when discussing it with others, and/or not offending them. But it IS important to the Catholic schools, and it is their primary purpose for existing. Parents may choose to send thier children to parochial (or private) schools for a bunch of reasons that have nothing to do with religious education, but without that component, there would be NO need or reason for the church (diocese), or the religious orders to run a school.