Shrinking Catholic schools mean fewer opportunities for minorities to escape poverty

Many Latino and black professionals credit Catholic schools with helping them go from humble roots to successful careers. But, The New York Times reports, many of them worry fear that the system that has helped numerous poor and working-class minority students is eroding as Catholic schools close their doors in the face of financial challenges and demographic shifts. Since 2011, the Archdiocese of New York has closed 56 schools, the vast majority of them elementary schools. Now 219 schools remain in the education system.