Five thousand students, parents and teachers, representing roughly 50 public and private schools, rallied at the Westchester County Center in support of an education investment tax credit bill that is building momentum in the state legislature.
The bill aims to give individuals and businesses incentives to donate to educational entities affiliated with public schools. It also allows them to give to community scholarships and designate which public or private school receives their donations. The benefit is a dollar for dollar tax credit for individuals and businesses not to exceed 75 percent of their yearly tax liability. The Assembly bill has more than 100 sponsors in a 150-seat chamber, but a floor vote has been delayed.
Last year, the proposed bill passed through the Senate by a vote of 55-4 but didn”™t reach a floor vote in the Assembly after being tied up in the red tape of a subcommittee. This year, the bill reached neither the Senate nor Assembly floor. The Senate bill didn’t emerge out of the Investigations and Government Operations Committee, said Megan V. Brown, a spokeswoman for the office of Sen. Martin J. Golden. The Assembly”™s version of the bill never made its way out of the Ways and Means Committee, a permanent committee that supervises all financial legislation, said Sharon Grobe, legislative director for the Office of Assemblyman Michael J. Cusick.
The idea was to line up further support from both the Senate and Assembly before pushing it out of either committees. More than 80 percent of the majority party members of the Ways and Means Committee are bill sponsors now, including the chairman.
Grobe said that even if the Assembly bill emerged from the Ways and Means Committee, it would still have to clear the Rules Committee before moving to the floor for a housewide vote. Robyn Cotrona, assistant counsel to Golden, said the Senate is prepared to pass the bill again next year.
Both versions of the bill were revised this year to include safeguards that ensure donations are properly allocated to private and public schools by requiring taxpayers to apply for a contribution authorization certification. Educational institutions would need to be certified by the state Board of Regents and fill out an application that asks them to provide names of the members of their boards of directors.
A significant difference between the two versions of the bill is that the Senate version would allow individuals and businesses to donate to charter schools, while the Assembly bill would not. Charter schools are publicly funded schools established by teachers, parents or community groups that can run independently of city and state rules.
The bill allows corporations to invest more money in public and private education, which will prepare students to become well-trained and equipped future workers in the county, said John Ravitz, executive vice president of The Business Council of Westchester.
“Corporations and businesses have adopted schools before, which means they go into a specific school and not only give them money but have had some of their staff and employees do programs in the school,” Ravitz said. “We want to encourage more corporate social responsibility in our schools. This bill would make this program much larger, and it”™s giving businesses an opportunity to do more for schools across the state.”
Qualified school staff would also receive tax credits dollar for dollar up to $100 for materials and supplies purchased for classroom use every academic year. Qualified staff includes a teacher, instructor, counselor, or principal at a public or non-public school who is employed for at least 900 hours during the year.
At the rally, students held signs that read “My Education Matters” and “Support Our Teachers. They cheered each time a government leader stepped up to the podium to ask students what they think about more funding for their education and helping their parents alleviate the financial burden of paying for tuition at parochial and other private schools through scholarship opportunities.
Patricia Gabriel, president of the Federation of Catholic Teachers, said in the last two years, the Archdiocese of New York shut down 54 Catholic Schools, including 15 from Westchester. In the last two years, about 630 full time and part-time teachers lost their jobs, including 172 teachers in Westchester, she added.
State Sen. David Carlucci said the bill allows the private sector to invest in education and removes the school”™s dependency on taxpayers to generate funding. He added that the bill encourages parent-teacher associations to use innovative ways to “leverage outside funding sources” that will “contribute tax-exempt donations” to schools, which can then use the money to make smart investments in programs that will benefit students.
“Enacting this bill will help to preserve and expand programs that unfairly fall victim to budget cuts but are needed for a well-rounded education, be they art, music, athletics, tutoring and after school programs,” Carlucci said.
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