Parents March on Albany to Demand Education Tax Relief

By Linda Busetti

ON THE STEPS of the State Capitol, Bishop DiMarzio, right, joined Sen. Martin Golden, left, and other members of the State Legislature.

Parents and students from parish schools boarded about 50 buses in Brooklyn and Queens to attend a rally at the State capital in Albany last Tuesday supporting education tax credits.

The Coalition of Independent and Religious Schools sponsored the noontime education tax credit rally on the eaststeps of the New York State Capitol building on Feb. 14.

The coalition includes the NYS Catholic Conference. Both Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn and Cardinal Edward Egan of the New York Archdiocese attended the rally, and were among the speakers at an 11 a.m. news conference.

Governor George Pataki, State Senator Martin Golden, and Assemblyman Vito Lopez addressed the rally. In his executive budget, Governor Pataki has proposed a $500 education tax credit that could be used by parents of children who live in underperforming school districts (which includes all of New York City). The budget is subject to approval by the state legislature.

The proposed credit can be used for educational expenses such as tutoring, summer programs, and tuition at a religious or independent school. The credit would be available to parents of children attending public, religious and independent schools. Families earning below $75,000 annually would get full credit. The credit would be graduated for incomes up to $90,000.

State Senator Golden and Assemblyman Lopez have introduced legislation that would provide credits of up to $3,500, which could be used by parents in any school district, not just those deemed underperforming. The legislature has not yet acted on their proposal.

Sonia Abi-Habib, president of the Home School Association at St. Patrick’s, Bay Ridge, which sponsored a bus to the rally, said, “Everyone knows Catholic schools are struggling.” She said the passage of the tax credits “can only strengthen them.”

“Families are struggling,” Abi-Habib said. Catholic education is “a big sacrifice.”

Andrea D’Emic, principal of St. Patrick’s, sent a letter to parents urging them to attend the rally, which Abi-Habib followed up with a personal letter. Parents were also encouraged to contact their legislators urging them to pass tax credit legislation.

“It would be ridiculous to let this opportunity go by,” said Abi-Habib, who has a son in second grade and a two-year-old daughter. “The next two or three years are crucial. St. Patrick’s has to be there when my daughter is ready for school. It would be ridiculous not to protect this part of the community.

“Governor Pataki has made a strong case,” Abi-Habib said. She added that Senator Golden “has taken it a step further.”

“Parents don’t want to believe that their school might not be there some day,” she said. “As long as the doors are open, they think they will stay open.”

At St. Patrick’s, enrollment has increased to 240 students this year, Abi-Habib said. “The school has to stay open,” she insisted. The tax credit “would be a tremendous boost.

“Public school for my children was not a consideration,” she said.

At the front of the bus, Father Gerard Sauer, parochial vicar, modeled the headgear for the day – a white cap with the green letters SOS, for “Save Our Schools.” Eighth-graders filled the back of the bus. Their class had been offered the choice to come or not. Last year the class had taken a trip to Albany to learn how State government works. Now they were part of that process.

Marika Soltys came because last year she wrote an essay advocating tax credits for Catholic school education. She felt she should come to support the stand she had taken.

“My parents sent me to Catholic school so I won’t lose my faith,” Soltys said. “At St. Patrick’s, every day we come in contact with the Church.”

Sean Karasin, another eighth-grader and a non-Catholic, said he feels very welcome in the “tight-knit” school and thinks he’s getting a good education.

Several hours later as they got off the bus in Albany, students with their SOS caps followed a flag-bearer carrying the diocesan flag. The group marched purposefully up to the office of State Assemblywoman Adele Cohen, who represents part of St. Patrick’s parish.

Seated in Cohen’s office, the parents and Father Sauer attempted to explain to Cohen, a former teacher, why they were there.

Joe Longo, a St. Patrick’s parent, asked Cohen her views on education tax credits and if she would support them. Cohen failed to answer the question and changed the subject.

Abi-Habib told Cohen that many families have one income so a parent can be home with two or three children. It is a struggle, she said. Cohen said that women should not be “sitting at home” and told girls among the students to become doctors, lawyers or president.

“I was totally offended,” Abi-Habib said, as well as being embarrassed in front of the students.

After the students left Cohen’s office, Longo went back in to question the assemblywoman.

“I will not support it and I will not vote for it,” Cohen told Longo about the tax credits.

Representatives from St. Bernadette’s School, Dyker Heights, received similar treatment when they went to lobby Cohen.

The group from St. Patrick’s marched outside to the east steps of the Capitol where they joined a diverse crowd of more than 7,000 from around the state – the legislation will impact independent, religious and home schools.

Brooklyn State Senator Martin Golden stood on the steps at a podium behind a sign, “Education tax credits make sense,” and led the crowd in chanting, “Save our schools!”

He told the crowd, “March 31 is the date by which the budget must be balanced. We need this tax credit and we need it now.”

“This is no voucher,” Golden said. “This is a tax credit for everybody…. It’s protected by the Supreme Court. It works…. It’s taking your hard-earned dollars and returning $500.”

Governor Pataki arrived and spoke briefly to the crowd. Cardinal Edward Egan and Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio joined those on the steps.

Earlier in the day, Bishop DiMarzio had met with the governor and legislators to discuss the education tax credit. According to Father Kieran Harrington, director of the diocesan Legislative Affairs Office, the bishop has been a leader in the push for education tax credits. “This has been a year in the planning,” Father Harrington said. It was Bishop DiMarzio who asked Golden and Lopez to sponsor tax credit legislation.

“This has been a big push for the Church,” Father Harrington said. “This was a great success,” he said of the rally and final victory “depends on the grassroots strength of the movement.”

Assemblyman Vito Lopez told the crowd, “If it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen because of all of you.”

Bishop DiMarzio, the first of nine speakers at a press conference that preceded the rally, stood behind mail bins holding some 200,000 postcards from parents supporting the credits and said 90,000 came from the Diocese of Brooklyn.

It was reported later that an additional 100,000 postcards were collected and would be added to the earlier total.

The Bishop said tax credits were a family issue that would help empower families to place education dollars where they saw fit.

The legislative action toward education tax credit “is a move in the right direction, whose time has come,” he said.

Sen. Golden emphasized that parents “need a tax credit and they need it now,” while Assemblyman Lopez said he backed education tax credits, adding: “I can’t wait ‘till it’s passed.”

Queens Sen. Serphin Maltese stressed that education tax credits were “a question of equity, a question of fairness.”

Bishop DiMarzio invited the 56 members of the Senate and Assembly who represent districts in Brooklyn and Queens to a breakfast in Albany’s Legislative Building on the morning of the rally.

He welcomed 10 Senators and 14 members of the Assembly who accepted:

Sens. Martin Dilan, Martin Golden, Carl Kruger, Serphin Maltese, George Onorato, Frank Padavan, Kevin Parker, Diane Savino, Malcolm Smith and Toby Stavisky. Also, Assemblypersons Peter Abbate, Jr., Jeffrion Aubry, Karim Camara, William Colton, Michael Gianaris, Andrew Hevesi, Ivan Lafayette, Joseph Lentol, Vito Lopez, Matthew Mirones, Catherine Nolan, N. Nick Perry, Audrey Pheffer and Mark Weprin.

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