Education: Somebody Up There Likes Holy Cross High

When Jesus Pimentel stepped from the ring in San Antonio last week after fighting for what was billed as the North American Bantamweight championship, the city's Mexican-American majority had two reasons to be pleased. Not only had the Mexican contender won, but the fight also netted $1,000 for an unlikely beneficiary: Holy Cross High School, a parochial school that serves San Antonio's poorest Chicano neighborhood (median family income: $3,280).

Why is a high school connected with a prizefight? The answer goes back to 1968, when San Antonio's parochial schools were in deep financial...