In the past 20 years, since charter schools first opened, they have had a major impact on parochial schools. Charter schools have their strongest presence in urban centers which is the stronghold of Catholic education. Charter schools , because they have free tuition are considered to be a viable alternative to Catholic education. Today, some 5,600 charter schools which educate about 2 million students operate in 41 states and the District of Columbia. Since 2000, 1,942 Catholic schools around the country have closed and enrollment have dropped by 621,583 to just over 2 million according to the National Catholic Educational Association.
Part of the decrease in the number of Catholic schools also has to deal with the increase use of lay teachers and the steep drop in the number of nuns. In Albany New York Catholic school enrollment dropped by 64 percent from 2000 to 2010. This drop in Parochial school attendance has also affected the taxes of people because those students are now added to the public sector.