Bishops Oppose Reduction in Catholic School Reimbursement

The New York State Catholic Conference represents the Bishops of New York State in matters of Public Policy. The role of the Conference is to seek justice, fairness and charity for all, with a particular emphasis on the poor and vulnerable.

The Conference recently issued an “Acton Alert” regarding funding for Catholic schools:

On April 9, Governor Paterson and State Legislative leaders proudly announced another record increase in funding to public schools -- $1.8 billion more than they received last year. That's a 9 percent increase -- twice the rate of inflation. Here's what they said:

"Even in difficult times, we still must strive to provide critical funding for our education system." - Governor Paterson.

"...this budget delivers results for every student, parent, teacher, school, administrator and taxpayer in New York State." - Senate Budget Statement

"This historic increase in education funding....maintains the Assembly Majority's long-standing commitment to provide a quality education for all of New York's children." - Assembly Budget Statement

But what did they do for religious and independent schools? Just the opposite.They CUT funding used to reimburse mandated costs of religious and independent school costs by 2 percent. By doing so they have broken the state's long-standing legal commitment to reimburse independent and religious schools for 100 percent of their mandated expenses. This is completely unacceptable.

We need you to contact the Governor and your legislators now to let them know you cannot accept this injustice.

Take action now by going here and sending a pre-written, editable e-mail message to Gov. Paterson and your state Senator and Assembly Member. The automated system will find your legislators by your home address.

If you can't open the link, go to www.nyscatholic.org and click the Take Action Now button on the homepage.