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Public Money for Private Schools
February 15th, 2006

Supporters of Governor George Pataki’s proposed $500 tax credit for education expenses, rallied in Albany yesterday. While the governor says most of the money would go to help public schools parents pay for tutoring and the like, much of the support seemed to come from religious schools and the parents who send their children to them. In an editorial, The Sun praised the rally saying, it “marked another step in the remarkable progress of the tax credit proposal. It was initially greeted with skepticism in many quarters, but has been building momentum ever since.”

With the Senate backing the measure, the Assembly and Speaker Sheldon Silver, an Orthodox Jew and supporter of more funds for public schools, is seen as key to its passage. Eyes are also on the teachers union, which has traditionally opposed public money going to private schools. But some observers see a deal in the works.

The Sun reports that teachers union president Randi Weingarten told Catholic leaders that she might be flexible on the issue of tax credits — if they support demands that Albany spend billions of more dollars on New York City public schools. And Ezra Friedlander, a political consultant from Borough Park, Brooklyn, told the Times that Silver might support some kind of tax credit proposal. “I’m sure Shelly Silver understands that this is an important issue for his community, for the observant community,” Friedlander said.

Others question the effect of the plan on schools and families. Richard Iannuzzi, president of the state teachers’ union, assailed spending $400 million on a tax credit while the state balks at a court order saying city schools need billions of dollars more. “It’s almost an affront,” he said.

New York Archbishop Cardinal Egan said the credit would give “the middle class and working class the kind of opportunities that the wealthy have.” And the
Orthonomics
blog said $500 can make a big difference “to struggling parents looking to make ends meet.” Perhaps, but with private (not parochial) school tuition topping $20,000 in the city, wealthy parents will still have options that many poor and middle class families will not.

By Gail Robinson on February 15, 2006, 1:47 pm
In category: Education, Gotham City, Public Finance | 1 Comment »

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