Catholics actual policy was to move sexual abusers to different parishes and not tell anyone. That is the actual norm. And that was not just a new thing. Catholics as organizations run pretty atrocious institutions (orphanages, schools) where kids were routinely abused.

Yes, catholic church is waaay worst then school system in this regard. And largely for systematic reasons - the expectation of obeisance and expectation that one should protect the institution make them more suspectible to abuse.

The catholic cover ups were not just outliers. They were result of lack of transparency and of impossibility to challenge superiors.

Moreover mandatory reporting within school syatem is an actual law. This alone makes the two system different.