BUILDING BIGGER AND PRETTIER BOATS WON'T MAKE THE FISH JUMP IN!

Introduction to the series: The Reasons Why Your Christian School is Struggling

I received a sad email this morning notifying me that another local Christian school had decided to close its doors for good. This school was once a thriving and growing school filled with hundreds of children taught by an excited and well qualified staff. Now, the property will be sold to a developer and the parents, child and staff will be searching for a new school.

Why did this happen? How does a once vibrant and growing school shrivel up and die in just a few short years. I'm sure the answers are complex and numerous, but perhaps also predictable and in my opinion definitely preventable. In my 30+ years of experience in Christian education I've noticed patterns and trends that are the "warning lights" or indicators of why so many one thriving schools now struggle or close all together. I want to share some of my thoughts with you in this series of articles called "Why Christian Schools are Struggling". I know without a doubt that they will be unpopular for some, painful for others and controversial to those in the contemporary Christian school movement, but as they say the first step in recovery is admitting that there is a problem.

Let me first start by telling you of an experience I had a few years ago when I had to attend another of those “next fad in Christian education” conferences. I didn’t want to, I'm not a big fan of these types of events, but my work required my attendance. It was held at an expensive and lavish hotel complex in a far away city, and it cost a small fortune to attend. They had a catchy slogan; there were dozens of vendors selling their latest products and serves, and course there were lots of the most recent crop of “management experts” presenting their newest theories on making your Christian school bigger and more successful.

As I reviewed the program booklet of the many of the keynotes and breakout sessions they offered, I couldn’t help but think, with all of these books, products and revolutionary theories available, why are so many of our Christian schools struggling or closing each year? Why is it that with dozens and dozens of these conventions each year enrollment at most Christian schools continue to drop? Despite the multitude of books, "experts" with new ideas, and the fancy software solutions, most Christian school’s finances and debt load are an absolute train wreck of a mess. 

Well, if you could afford to attend one of these big conferences you're likely to hear the "experts" say it’s because we are undergoing a “revolution” in Christian education, and a "paradigm shift" in the pattern of the "ever changing priorities" in Christian schools. They will tell you that the next generation of Christian education has arrive and that only the "best" Christian schools will survive. Of course to survive, they will have to be managed by expensive big data software solutions (conveniently offered by one of their premier conference sponsors), have lots of new technology equipment (also offered by one of the conference sponsors), and build multi-million dollar campuses. They will also need elaborate marketing and branding concepts, and state championship caliber athletic program that will compete with the public, private and charter schools in your community. 

Smaller schools won't be able to keep up, and according to these experts, if you can’t do those things, then your school is destined to fail in this “new marketplace” for Christian education. So, not wanting to be "old fashion" or "outdated" many Christian schools have jumped on the band wagon of building expensive buildings and athletic fields, buying costly school management software and lowering their standards to bring in the numbers of students and staff to generate the revenue necessary to support their new found debt. Mission and values have taken a backseat to buildings, revenue streams and enrollment marketing schemes.

Now, don’t misunderstand me. I am a big believer in nice buildings, 21st century technology, competitive athletic programs, intelligent and effective business planning, and using the best practices available in our schools. But simply put, building bigger and pretty boats won’t make the fish jump in. That hasn’t worked for the contemporary church, and it certainly won’t work for our Christian schools! 

I may be a bit cynical, but I have a sneaky suspicion that all of these fads, schemes and next generation programs are designed for one thing and one thing only…to help these experts, associations and big business sponsors make a whole lot of money off of your fears and gullibility. I often questioned why 3 of the largest and most unchristian mega-corporations in America are so heavily invested in "serving" the Christian school community? Do you think it’s because they share our vision and mission for a Christ honoring education…or do they just like the color green?  

Now, I realize that this kind of thinking won’t make me many friends, or get me invited to speak at one of those big expensive conferences, but before you dismiss me as being a stuck in the past dinosaur, hear me out. For almost 40 years, I have been involved in Pastoral ministry and Christian education, and Christian schools have always held a special place in my heart. I attended a Christian college where I studied Christian education and Pastoral ministry. My wife owned and operated an early learning program for children for 17 years, and all our children have attended Christian schools for most of their formative years.

While I pastored various congregations, I have taught, worked in administration, coached and served on the board of several Christian schools.  I tell you all that, to emphasize that I am a strong believer in the fundamentals of good Christian education and in the absolute necessity of Christian schools. I am so passionate about that commitment that I turned that experience and passion into my ministry as a Christian school consultant and stability strategist. I have traveled the US speaking, teaching and advising numerous schools in advancement, enrollment and financial aid, and curriculum mapping. I helped create a mission and values based financial aid software program, worked in several urban school projects and consulting for numerous schools seeking to build both stability and sustainability for their schools. I’m a practical solutions kind of guy who rolls up his sleeves to work alongside of your school, not a distant theorist who sells books and videos for profit. So, I think I am uniquely qualified to kick the hornets’ nest of today’s contemporary Christian education “movement” and perhaps get some people to think a little differently. 

To do that, I think we need to have, as my friend and fellow Christian school consultant Bill Simmer (Christian School Management) would say, a “harsh conversation”. One that is straight forward, painfully honest and where everything is placed on the table as we discuss what’s right and what’s wrong in our Christian school community today. It’s a root cause analysis designed to look at fixing the problems that are destroying us from within, not a sales presentation for the newest service, fad or theory for sale only to those who can afford it.

Recently, I called and visited several dozen Christian school administrators and asked them why they think so many schools are struggling and closing. This wasn’t a fancy scientific survey of 10,000 schools, just a heart to heart discussion with 40 plus friends and Christian school colleagues about some of the problems they are facing. 

This is a summary of what they shared:

“Times are tight and we are living in a tough economy” was usually the first and most frequent response to my question. Next came the reasoning that “church attendance is way down and many Christian families just don’t value Christian education. Another reason given was the “Increased competition for students from Charter Vo-tech schools, other local private schools”. Homeschooling was also mentioned as a new competitor for many of the Christian schools.

In my conversations, I heard them share their fears, concerns and the many frustrations that they face every day as Christian school leaders. I also heard them share their genuine disappointment that joining associations, buying the latest software programs or services, or attending those big conference haven’t done much to help solve the very real problems facing their schools. 

I can’t say I was shocked or surprised by their answers, we’ve all heard them before. These are all good and reasonably sounding excuses for why our Christian schools are struggling. But, while they may be secondary and contributing factors to the decline more often than not, they are not the primary reason why you’re Christian school is struggling.  I believe that the reasons for falling enrollments and financial pressures have little or nothing to do with the economy, your local competition or the spiritual state of today’s church. Actually, that’s great news – because all of these things are within your control. And if you're willing to take an honest look, identify some areas of weakness, and work hard to correct them, you just might be amazed at how quickly things turn around. Not an adoption of a new process or program, but a return to the very core reasons why we have Christian schools.

I can tell you that there are still lots of families in your community looking for high quality Christian schools…there really are. But, they have chosen other options because they just have not found the value in what you offer. I’m sorry if that hurts or angers you, but it’s absolutely true. What you are offering just isn’t interesting enough for them to pay good money for, and so they chose homeschooling, charter or Vo-tech schools or other options. Some are even driving right past your school every day to another local private school and paying more because they see the value in an education in that school, but not yours.

So, now that we know the issues we face, how can we fix them? I hope you will continue to read this series on why your Christian school is struggling, but most importantly I hope you're inspired to take a deep look at your school and see if any of these issues look familiar.