By B.G. Kelley

Jalesaa Figueroa's story touched me. As Monica Yant Kinney reported in The Inquirer last week, Jalesaa lives in a North Philadelphia rowhouse with her grandmother, who supports them both on an $801-a-month Social Security check. The 18-year-old was struggling to cover her tuition to return to Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls for her senior year. She raised some money with a singing performance, but it wasn't enough.

To her surprise, once the story got out, more than $2,000 in donations poured in. Now Jalesaa plans to give another performance to raise the rest of the money she needs to continue at the Hunting Park school.

Her story makes a compelling case for school vouchers. With all the recent ballyhoo over charter schools, it's easy to forget that urban faith-based schools have been delivering strong academics, high college acceptance rates, safe environments, and social services for decades. We read about inner-city public schools rife with violence and plagued by high dropout rates, but just down the street there may be a faith-based school where the students behave admirably, stay in school, and score above average academically.

A 1997 study by University of Chicago professor Derek Neal showed that attending Catholic school made the typical inner-city child 26 percent more likely to graduate from high school. The Rev. Eugene Rivers, pastor of the Azusa Christian Community in Boston, says that faith-based institutions are the only hope left for a generation of young people plagued by urban violence.

I attended Roman Catholic High School in Center City, and I teach at International Christian High School in Olney, so I have seen the work of urban faith-based schools firsthand. These schools instill a set of beliefs and values in their students that help them confront day-to-day struggles and develop a sense of responsibility and accountability. I was one of the kids who would thank my teachers at Roman for steering me in the right direction, and sometimes I see that scene replayed at International.

Faith-based schools also can bring about better understanding among different ethnic groups and cultures by providing common ground.

Most of the parents of students attending faith-based schools are involved. Much as my parents did, they attend parent-teacher conferences and work with schools to give their kids the best possible chance to become better students and better people. These parents also make sacrifices to cover the tuition.

Faith-based schools are by no means perfect. They, too, have students who act up, refuse responsibility, and get expelled. But their promise is proven by stories like Jalesaa Figueroa's.

B.G. Kelley is a Philadelphia writer.