Taxpayer Money Must Not Fund Private and Religious Schools

March 2, 2016 – The New York Civil Liberties Union is joining a coalition of government watchdog groups, religious associations and education advocates today in Albany to present a legislative briefing on the proposed Parental Choice in Education Act, an education tax credit that would effectively transfer public tax dollars to private and religious schools. The act, which was rejected last year, is geared toward wealthy donors, and allows as much as $1 million in tax credits for donations made to a private or public school.

The following statement is attributable to Robert Perry, legislative director at the New York Civil Liberties Union:

“The proposed education tax credit fails by every measure of sound education policy. The bill would jeopardize funding for struggling public schools, subsidize private schools that ‘select out’ special-needs students, enable wealthy investors to influence education policy, and divert state funds to religious schools in violation of the Constitution. Based on any one of these reasons, lawmakers should reject the tuition tax credit.”

For more information, visit: http://www.nyclu.org/news/no-tax-credits-donors-private-and-religious-schools