USCCB education director reviews state of Catholic schools

John DeJak, director of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat of Catholic Education, has provided an overview of the current state of Catholic education in the United States. There are approximately 5,800 Catholic schools in the country, educating nearly 1.7 million students.

DeJak, who serves as primary staff to the bishops’ Committee on Catholic Education, oversees K-12 and higher education settings as well as related public policy. He works closely with Bishop David O’Connell, the chairman of the committee and bishop of the Diocese of Trenton.

A continuing focus for the committee involves evangelization efforts aimed at youth and young adults who are religiously unaffiliated or have disaffiliated from the Church. This follows observations that many young people leave the Church around age 13 or 14, often viewing confirmation as a graduation from religious participation.