The loss of another choice for parents

Funny that in this age where "choice" in education is trumpeted as such a wonderful thing, the one choice that has persisted the longest is in decline, with hardly a droop of ink devoted to the subject. Catholic schools are closing, mostly because of declining enrollment. These schools have been one of the primary alternatives to inner city public schools for generations, and now they are closing by the dozens. Enrollment has declined over the years, revenues are down, and with increasing number of lay teachers, expenses are up. In neighborhoods where the local public school was a killing zone, these schools provided a haven for students who would have been ground into hamburger. Where are all the wealthy foundations with big checks to keep these schools open? Where are the advocates? Where are all the interested journalists? There seems to be only one journalist who has noticed: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/21/nyregion/as-archdioceses-schools-retrench-worries-grow-for-a-building-block-for-minority-students.html
For some schools it's already too late. My old elementary school has just had its last year of operation. Maybe some of the others can still be saved?
Oh, by the way, these schools have always served the underserved. Today, that means lots of brown children who will lose out on real opportunity in favor of privatized "choice".