Long-term enrollment decline for Detroit-area Catholic schools

Enrollment in Detroit's public schools has plummeted in recent years, and the area's Catholic school system has endured a significant decline of its own. The Detroit Free Press says the six-county Archdiocese of Detroit now operates 96 schools with a total of 30,000 students. Compare that with 1964-65, when 203,000 students were enrolled in about 360 Detroit-area schools. In Detroit itself, only four Catholic elementary schools and three Catholic high schools remain open, all on the city's west side.