The Gospel-based, values-centred approach of faith-based schools in the US has helped many people out of poverty and set them on a path to longterm success. That’s according to advocates of Catholic schools in New York who spoke after the US Supreme Court heard arguments about whether US States can prohibit public revenue from going to faith-based schools.

Kathleen Porter-Magee is the superintendent of Partnership Schools Partnership Schools NYC, a network of Catholic schools in disadvantaged parts of New York like Harlem and the South Bronx. Writing in the New York Post, she says Catholic schools seek to form students with the habits of virtue that help them choose to do good. The results then speak for themselves: “Research has shown that students who ­attend religious schools are less likely to participate in risky criminal and sexual activity. One study found that girls who went to Catholic school were more likely to avoid early pregnancy, and boys who went to Catholic school were less likely to be incarcerated.”

She says that academically, students in her schools routinely surpass state, city and charter test-score averages, serving as a reminder of why many poor families have historically sent their children to Catholic schools.

Still, she adds that, while student achievement is important, it isn’t sufficient to bring about transformative change for our children. That’s why the case before the Supreme Court regarding some States who prohibit funding of faith-based schools is so important: “By ruling the right way, the Supremes can clear away the barriers that disadvantage religious schools and help ensure that all families, ­regardless of their income, have the right to choose the values in which they want their children educated.”