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Spitzer Bails Out
It’s unfortunate that during Catholic Schools Week, we have to report bad news about educational opportunities for children in New York State.
We are extremely disappointed that Gov. Eliot Spitzer has failed to follow through on a public pledge made last October to include a tax deduction for tuition expenses at independent and religious schools in his budget proposal released Jan. 22.
The governor included a $1,000 deduction in his budget plan last year but it failed to gain approval in the state Assembly. This year, that proposal is missing.
“We are very disappointed that Gov. Spitzer abandoned his public pledge to reintroduce a $1,000 tuition tax deduction for parents struggling with the double burden of public school taxes and tuition at their children’s independent or religious school,” said James Cultrara, director for education of the New York State Catholic Conference.
Recently, the Diocese of Rochester announced the closing of 13 schools.
“This is not only bad news for the parents in those schools; it is bad news for New York,” pointed out Cultrara. “The state’s independent and religious schools educate half a million children, at a savings to taxpayers of at least $7.5 billion annually.”
Could you imagine the chaos in New York State if more Catholic schools are forced to consolidate and merge! There is a limit as to how much extra money families have in their budgets after they have paid their taxes which are educating other people’s children.
We certainly are not opposed to public schools but nowhere is it written that they should have a monopoly on educating children. Parents should have the right to choose where they will send their children to school. There is hardly a choice if they cannot afford it.
Cultrara has urged the State Senate and Assembly to “add the deduction or, better still, an education tax credit” to the budget scheduled for approval by April 1. We endorse that idea. At least it would be the start to educational choice that we thought Gov. Spitzer’s plan was going to be.
Since it’s clear that the governor will not be the one to help us, we must now depend on a sense of fairness and good judgment in our state houses.
Something has to be done soon or the headlines about school closings will become even more common and the only say about education will come from the state.
We again urge our readers to sign onto the New York State Catholic Conference’s political advocacy network. Our representatives will only work for us when we tell in significant numbers what we want them to do. Log on today to www.nyscatholic.org. and participate in the democratic process.
The Choice Is Life
If there ever was a justification for maintaining a strong Catholic Press, it is the lack of attention given to the pro-life movement by the secular press.
The 2008 March for Life held Jan. 22 in Washington has come and gone. If it wasn’t for the Catholic Press, no one would even know that it had taken place. Even though more than 100,000 people braved the chilly conditions in the nation’s capital that Tuesday, there was hardly a mention of the event in the daily newspapers or the TV news shows.
This is nothing new. The press continually has ignored the March for Life. Let’s face it, abortion is not an issue of priority for the politically correct and powerful elite. For them, the issue is closed.
Fortunately the cries of the unborn are being heard more and more, especially by the young. Young people flocked to Washington for the March. From our own diocese, several buses of high school and college students took time out to travel to Washington to make their voices heard. That’s good because the young are the future of the pro-life movement.
As the marchers returned home, they will continue to combat a full slate of pro-life issues facing the nation.
For instance, we need to support an amendment to the Indian Health Care Improvement Act expected to go before the Senate that would restrict the federal funding of abortion through the Indian Health Service except to save the life of the mother, or in cases of rape of a minor or incest with a minor.
The U.S. bishops also are monitoring an amendment to remove federal support for Planned Parenthood under Title X of the Public Health Service Act and working to ensure that pro-life language stays in current appropriation bills.
And of course, they also will be keeping a close eye on legislation involving embryonic stem-cell research. We note with gratitude President Bush’s opposition to embryonic research in his State of the Union address.
Since this is the final year of service by this president, we take the time here to thank him for his vigilant fight for the lives of the unborn.
The tide is turning to a more pro-life attitude in the nation but the opposition remains formidable.
On the positive side, there is hope. Democrats for Life would like to see their party’s platform include “conscience language” that has previously been incorporated in the platform stating the party’s respect for the conscience of each American on the issue of abortion.
All of us need to monitor the campaigns for president that are underway. We need to tell the candidates loud and clear that nothing short of support for life will be tolerated.
There’s a lot riding on the upcoming elections. But there’s a lot of optimism that Americans are better appreciating the need for more respect for life.
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