A vital leg up for working-class kids
Much has been said and written about the proposed Parental Choice in Education Act, which would bolster funds for poor and workingclass children to attend private and parochial schools and help teachers who pay out of pocket for school supplies.
The Catholic Church is among the many supporters of this proposal, for very simple reasons. The plan devotes resources in a smart way to help advance educational and economic justice. It strengthens our society by creating opportunity for those who might not otherwise have it.
The current New York State education budget is roughly $24 billion; the Parental Choice in Education Act could help thousands of families and teachers across New York for a price tag of $150 million.
And despite what critics say, two-thirds of the $150 million in tax credits would go directly to parents or directly benefit public schools — above and beyond state aid and local tax revenue. The remaining $50 million would encourage New Yorkers of all incomes to donate to scholarship programs, almost all of which serve only lower-income families.
Parents would receive a direct $500 tax credit to help them cover the cost of tuition for pre-K through 12th grade. Teachers would receive a direct $200 tax credit to reimburse them for money they spent out of their own pockets to pay for classroom expenses.
All New Yorkers would be eligible for a tax credit if they donated to public schools; to nonprofits that provided programming for after-school, tutoring, arts, music or sports, or to organizations like DonorsChoose that allow teachers to attract charitable donations for specific classroom projects.
The Catholic Church has always stood in solidarity with the poor and vulnerable, and we are the largest nongovernmental provider of human services in New York State. But there is no greater charitable ministry that we run than our schools, because a quality, values-based education is the surest path out of poverty.
There are 200,000 Catholic school students in the state, nearly half of them in the city. Average tuition is $4,900 for elementary school and $8,000 for secondary school.
The investment and tuition tax credits that are a part of the Parental Choice in Education Act will help us to continue to serve those most in need, and to provide a brighter future to children across the state.
Adding funds for scholarships for lower- and middle-income families to attend a school of their choice helps provide an element of educational and economic justice in a world where both are too often denied.
And for families who make the choice, Catholic schools have a proven track record of delivering for our children. Ninety-seven percent of our high school students graduate in four years and 95% go onto college. Remarkably, those statewide average stats are the same for our inner-city schools, where 65% of students are at or below poverty line.
For more than 200 years, and preceding the existence of public schools, New York’s Catholic schools have been educating children — many of them immigrants and not Catholic — and helping form them into loving, responsible and productive citizens. Catholic school graduates have become shopkeepers, teachers, entertainment stars, U.S. Supreme Court justices and even governors of New York State.
This is not an ideologically one-sided measure. The bill is supported by more than 140 organizations representing New York’s great diversity — 32 labor unions as well as business groups, civic organizations, cultural institutions, community groups and local branches of such national organizations as the Urban League and the League of United Latin American Citizens.
This year, we can support our self-sacrificing teachers and help ensure that parents of the Empire State continue to have a choice in their children’s education. Our expectation should be nothing less.
Help families afford private or parochial
school