By Tristan Macdonald, Crisis Magazine - The future of American Catholic schools lies in operating as independently of the state as possible while still remaining financially feasible. Is this possible... Last year, a school at which I had taught, Saint Joseph Prep in Brighton, Massachusetts, was one of a number of Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Boston to close permanently. The problem of failing Catholic schools in the region has become egregious enough to concern even secular publications.