The New York section has a big article on the decline of Catholic schools:
In the New York Archdiocese, which extends from Staten Island north almost to Albany, fewer than 75,000 students now attend 245 Catholic elementary and high schools, down from 212,000 students in 414 schools in the early 1960s.
The article displays a remarkable lack of curiosity about the reasons for this decline in enrollment. Are there fewer Catholic children in the area now than there were in the early 1960s? Or are there similar numbers of Catholic children, but fewer of them choosing to attend Catholic schools? Or are fewer non-Catholic children choosing Catholic schools? What's responsible for these trends? The rise of charter schools? The increase in spending on public schools that has driven up teacher salaries and made it harder for the Catholic schools to compete in the market for professional educators? Fewer people becoming priests or nuns or members of religious orders that used to staff the schools? The sex-abuse scandals? It would be nice to have some answers to these questions from the Times, but the article is no help at all.