please help the smock

Pope Pius XI has an encyclical on Christian education entitled Rappresentanti in Terra, promulgated 1929. I'm not sure if there are any good quotes in it, but I found it by searching for "Catholic education" on the New Advent website.

I like this one from The Declaration on Christian Education from Vatican II-

" As it is parents who have given life to their children, on them lies the gravest obligation of education. They must therefore be recognized as being primarily and principally responsible for their education. The role of parents in education is of such importance that it is almost impossible to provide and adequate substitute."

That's not really specifically on supporting Catholic education, but implied I guess.

Gravissimum Educationis (as stated by Marsha, in English above :)

No 8.

Catholic Schools

The influence of the Church in the field of education is shown in a special manner by the Catholic school. No less than other schools does the Catholic school pursue cultural goals and the human formation of youth. But its proper function is to create for the school community a special atmosphere animated by the Gospel spirit of freedom and charity, to help youth grow according to the new creatures they were made through baptism as they develop their own personalities, and finally to order the whole of human culture to the news of salvation so that the knowledge the students gradually acquire of the world, life and man is illumined by faith.(25) So indeed the Catholic school, while it is open, as it must be, to the situation of the contemporary world, leads its students to promote efficaciously the good of the earthly city and also prepares them for service in the spread of the Kingdom of God, so that by leading an exemplary apostolic life they become, as it were, a saving leaven in the human community.

Since, therefore, the Catholic school can be such an aid to the fulfillment of the mission of the People of God and to the fostering of the dialogue between the Church and mankind, to the benefit of both, it retains even in our present circumstances the utmost importance. Consequently this sacred synod proclaims anew what has already been taught in several documents of the magisterium,(26) namely: the right of the Church freely to establish and to conduct schools of every type and level. And the council calls to mind that the exercise of a right of this kind contributes in the highest degree to the protection of freedom of conscience, the rights of parents, as well as to the betterment of culture itself.

But let teachers recognize that the Catholic school depends upon them almost entirely for the accomplishment of its goals and programs.(27) They should therefore be very carefully prepared so that both in secular and religious knowledge they are equipped with suitable qualifications and also with a pedagogical skill that is in keeping with the findings of the contemporary world. Intimately linked in charity to one another and to their students and endowed with an apostolic spirit, may teachers by their life as much as by their instruction bear witness to Christ, the unique Teacher. Let them work as partners with parents and together with them in every phase of education give due consideration to the difference of sex and the proper ends Divine Providence assigns to each sex in the family and in society. Let them do all they can to stimulate their students to act for themselves and even after graduation to continue to assist them with advice, friendship and by establishing special associations imbued with the true spirit of the Church. The work of these teachers, this sacred synod declares, is in the real sense of the word an apostolate most suited to and necessary for our times and at once a true service offered to society. The Council also reminds Catholic parents of the duty of entrusting their children to Catholic schools wherever and whenever it is possible and of supporting these schools to the best of their ability and of cooperating with them for the education of their children.(28)

Hope this helps.

God bless.

I just happened to be reading something somewhat along those lines. From Thomas E. Woods "The Church Confronts Modernity". You might want to read up on this Father Shields fellow:

One of the primary sources of division between the parties ['Americanist' versus more traditionalist] involved the question of education. As the nineteenth century progressed, it was becoming clear to Catholics and to Christians in general that the country was moving toward a secular curriculum and ethos in the system of public education. Christians were therefore faced with a critical choice. They could send their children to public schools and supplement the secular education that they received with religious education in the home or in a church setting, or they could establish a network fo schools of their own. As we know, the Catholic Church decided on the latter course of action, though our familiarity with the Catholic school system has perhaps served to obscure the staggering amount of effort and expense that the undertaking entailed.

The reason that Catholics had chosen to establish their own schools was that in the current climate the state schools tended "to eliminate religion from the minds and hearts of the youth of the country." ...As we shall see, Farther Thomas Edward Shields, the most influential Catholic educational theorist of the Progressive Era and a man who is routinely and rather carelessly described by historians as a "progressive", could not have objected more forcefully to the suggestion that religious education could be treated as a mere adjunct to the rest of the material the child was learning.)

The school issue was fairly typical of the types of issues that divided Americanists from their opponents. It did not involve any Catholic dogma. It had to do instead with the practical question of how Catholics in the United States ought to interact with the society in which they lived.

Might want to read these in reverse order; as, the last two are encyclicals or some other papal documents on Christian education.

"Since parents have conferred life on their children they have a most solemn obligation to educate their offspring. Hence, parents must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children. Their role as educators is so decisive that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it." (Gravissimum Educationis, 3)

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccatheduc/documents/rc_con_ccatheduc_20051996_profile_en.html

http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Leo13/l13edu.htm

http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius11/P11RAPPR.HTM