A good year for the average student

Not everyone suffers during an economic downturn. Apple farmers and pencil manufacturers, for example, saw a surge in sidewalk sales during the Great Depression. Our current mess will benefit a few folks who were previously on the outs, too. In this case, C students.

All year long, Catholic schools around the country have been reporting a decrease in enrollment. At first, the soft matriculation rate was thought to have a lot to do with softer attendance on Sunday mornings, too. But the Archdiocese of New York just reported a drop of nearly 6,000 students. In Brooklyn, the plunge is as deep as 5%. Los Angeles schools are reporting that similar trouble is brewing.

For some families, that $5,500 tuition (the average for a Catholic school) could be better applied in other areas, so off to public school, that socialist institution that even hard-core conservatives love, the kids go.