For Catholic schools in the nation's capital, it's feast "and" famine these days.

Donors have helped the Archdiocese of Washington pump $60 million into its schools in the past decade. In 2004, Congress approved a $14 million voucher that paid tuition last year for nearly 2,000 students.

But as in other big cities, shifting demographics have drained D.C. of families who want to send their kids to Catholic schools, even when it's free. And Congress, which is controlled by Democrats, probably won't renew the voucher program.

Meanwhile, the city is at the heart of the USA's quiet love affair with privately run, publicly financed charter schools: One in five D.C. students attend a charter.

Faced with a $55 million long-term deficit and the looming closure of nearly half its schools, the archdiocese awaits approval of an unusual proposal: converting a handful of schools to secular "values based" charter schools that reflect Catholic morality but don't overtly teach church doctrine.

The bid represents the largest of its kind so far — and though it stands a good chance of approval by the D.C. Public Charter School Board in April, it's opposed by the National Catholic Education Association, which says the schools will lose their greatest strength: their religious character.

"This isn't a path for everyone," says archdiocese spokeswoman Susan Gibbs. "But we look around at other dioceses and they close their doors. We couldn't do that."

An independent, nonprofit board would run the seven proposed elementary schools, with no teaching of Catholic doctrine, no in-school prayer and no religious artifacts on the walls. In fact, none of the proposed charters would be considered "Catholic" schools. Essentially the archdiocese would act as a landlord.

In that sense, it's similar to arrangements in places such as Buffalo, N.Y., and Gary, Ind., where church schools have been transformed into nonreligious charters.

"We're sad that they can't be Catholic schools," NCEA President Karen Ristau says of the D.C. proposal. "There will be no religious doctrine or celebration of faith or prayer in the school day."

Though charters enjoy freedom from most regulations on personnel, curriculum, budget and teaching methods, Ristau says religious instruction is still out. "As far as I know, there's no wiggle room."