Principal’s Perspective

"The State of Christian Education"

"Our enrollment is down this year". "We lost two more students this week". "It's going to be tight financially". "What are we doing wrong?" "It's hard to compete with the big public school".

These are the comments I hear as I talk to other administrators of Christian schools. It seems like enrollments have been dropping everywhere in Christian schools lately. We personally have 30 fewer students than 4 years ago. So, what is the state of Christian education? Are we doing something wrong? Can we not compete with the public schools?

Let me answer that last question first. The answer is no, we cannot compete with the public schools. Why? Because we're not in competition with them! Their goals are completely different from our goals. Do we do some of the same things? Yes. Do we teach some of the same subjects? Yes. But, our goal is to lead every child to a saving knowledge of Christ. Is theirs? Our goal is to train Christian young people in all subjects with Christ at the center. Is theirs? Our goal is to develop young people to go out and do a work for God. To become preachers, missionaries, teachers, Christian doctors; etc. Is theirs? No, their goals are completely different. So, as much as some may want to,- we cannot compare ourselves to public schools.

This leads us to the answer to the other comments and questions above. Christian schools have been losing students left and right to where? To public schools. Why? Two reasons:

1.) Money - we charge tuition and public schools are free.

2.) A lack of commitment to having children get a Christian Education.

A Christian education means one thing: Sacrifice. Are we willing to sacrifice to ensure our children get the Christian foundation they need to survive and succeed? My heart sinks as I see parents pull their children out and put them in public schools. Knowing the influence and atmosphere they are going to be exposed to, all I can think is, "did we do enough while they were here to make them strong enough to survive in the face of a wicked environment?" When deciding where to place your child, just remember that although a Christian education may cost a little now it pays big dividends in the long run!