Catholic schools and civics education

One of the more common anti-school-choice canards is the Blanshardian one that education in Catholic schools are less likely than public schools to form good citizens.  My friend and colleague at Notre Dame, Prof. David Campbell (Pol. Sci.) has done a lot of work that refutes the charge.  Here's a bit about his recent work from the Notre Dame website:

“Historically, public schools have been celebrated as the exemplars of civic education, while private schools were often thought to provide an inferior form of training in democratic citizenship,” says David Campbell, a University of Notre Dame political scientist who specializes in political behavior, religion and politics, and education policy.

“Scores of empirical studies have now confirmed, however, that some forms of private schooling—specifically, Catholic schools—are more successful than their public counterparts in inculcating students with democratic values,” says Campbell, author of “Why We Vote: How Schools and Communities Shape Our Civic Life.”