Archdiocese, city spar over buildings - The Eagle Tribune

In a city where public schools are among the worst in the state, recent efforts to open new charter schools and reduce a waiting list that is at least 2,200 kids long have run into a wall: the Catholic Church.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston is refusing to sell several churches and schools it has closed in Lawrence to buyers who would open charter schools in the buildings, fearful that the new schools would compete with the last of the Catholic schools still operating in the city.