1,000 Slots at Catholic Schools in NYC Offered to Public Students

A plan that would move about 1,000 students from the severely overcrowded New York City public schools to private religious schools gathered momentum last week, although Chancellor Rudy F. Crew officially distanced himself from it.

The idea, originally proposed by Cardinal John J. O'Connor, the Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, has been floated in the district for years. But it took off earlier this month with an endorsement from Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

The mayor's statement came as the 1.1 million-student district found itself a staggering 91,000 students above capacity. Administrators are struggling desperately to find room for them, and classes are being held in stairwells, locker rooms, and old factories. ( "Enrollment Surge Stretches Schools' Limits," ...