Editors' comments.

Editors' comments. Have you ever had the experience, after buying a new car, ofdriving around the city streets and being overwhelmed o��ver��whelm?tr.v. o��ver��whelmed, o��ver��whelm��ing, o��ver��whelms1. To surge over and submerge; engulf: waves overwhelming the rocky shoreline.2. a. by the sheernumbers of people who have made the same decision you have and aredriving the very same car? Psychologists would no doubt argue that therecent purchase creates a heightened sensitivity to a particular model,and only makes it seem like there are more of this kind of car on theroad. But it certainly appears otherwise. For more than a few days, itis easy to feel some affinity and respect for those savvy other drivers,wise enough to have made such a choice. Perhaps it is because our work with the journal is focusedexclusively on Catholic education. Maybe it has something to do withcolleagues here and abroad who send in news and research about Catholiceducational efforts around the world. It could even be that our owninterests and biases in favor of Catholic schools heighten height��en?v. height��ened, height��en��ing, height��ensv.tr.1. To raise or increase the quantity or degree of; intensify.2. To make high or higher; raise.v.intr. ourawareness, but lately, it appears as if there is a general andwidespread interest in the renewal and revitalization re��vi��tal��ize?tr.v. re��vi��tal��ized, re��vi��tal��iz��ing, re��vi��tal��iz��esTo impart new life or vigor to: plans to revitalize inner-city neighborhoods; tried to revitalize a flagging economy. of K-12 Catholicschools across the US. Is it just us, or is interest in Catholic schoolswidespread? In recent months, it has been difficult to pick up a localnewspaper, much less a research journal, and not read something aboutnew efforts to help support Catholic schools. Various bishops havewritten individual pastoral letters to their dioceses, extolling thesuccesses of Catholic schools and calling on all Catholics to helpsupport and promote them. Research has been reporting the steady growthand expansion of the federally funded school choice program inWashington, DC, and school choice initiatives continue to spread acrossthe country. Civic education remains a strength of Catholic schools,making choice legislation hard to resist. Catholic universities have responded to the 2005 statement from theU.S. bishops on Catholic schools by establishing new programs,committing new resources, and making new alliances, all to helpstabilize enrollment, improve business operations Business operations are those activities involved in the running of a business for the purpose of producing value for the stakeholders. Compare business processes. The outcome of business operations is the harvesting of value from assets , and find new andcreative revenue streams to help fund Catholic schools. Smallergatherings of local leaders, politicians, and bishops are investigatingways to collaborate around the school issue. Groups of dioceses areforming consortia to work together, share ideas and resources, and findways to advance their common mission. The U.S. Secretary of Education,Margaret Spellings, called Catholic schools a national treasure, and herboss, the President of the United States United States,officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. , said that public schools havemuch to learn from Catholic schools, and that many of the standards andbenchmarks written into the landmark No Child Left Behind legislationwere patterned off of Catholic school success. OK, our sensitivity to Catholic school news is always in aheightened state. Like you, we share a passion for faith-based,educational excellence, and remain fully cognizant cog��ni��zant?adj.Fully informed; conscious. See Synonyms at aware.[From cognizance.]Adj. 1. of the generalsuccess of Catholic schools. Operating the journal keeps us abreast ofnew developments as they are happening. But right now, it seems like alot of people have just purchased the same car we have, and it is goodto be in such smart company. Ronald J. Nuzzi, Thomas C. Hunt, Co-Editors