Judging by the mailer, which was paid for by NYSUT, that we received today, it is clear that Assemblyman Santabarbara has fallen "hook,line and sinker" for the teachers unions b.s. view on the Parental Choice in Education Act.  
The reality is that the bill would give a tax credit to anyone who donates money to ANY school in New York -- parochial, private and - YES - public.   It would not take a penny away from public schools.  It would provide an opportunity to improve ALL schools in the state.

So call Assemblyman Santabarbara at 518-456-5197 and tell him  NO THANK YOU -- and that we want our Assembly-person to say NO to the high-paid teachers union lobbyists and YES to the Parental Choice in Education Act. Oh -- and tell Angelo that November 2016 is not too far off.  We WILL remember how he votes on this important issue and it WILL greatly influence our decision as to what person we will vote for the State Assembly.

Quoted Text

The Act provides for $150 million in education tax credits annually that will provide:

-Tax credits to low-income families who send their children to nonpublic schools,
-Scholarships to low- and middle-income students to attend either a public school outside of their district or a nonpublic school,
-Incentives to public schools for enhanced educational programming (like after school programs); and,
-Tax credits to public school teachers for the purchase of supplies.

I don't care much for Angelo, but why would we want to agree with the Governor's "education act"? Give tax payer money to families so they can send their kids to non-public schools are you nuts. If you want you kids to go to private school then buck up and pay for it yourself, but you are not getting me to pay for it. This is the Charter and Catholic school lobbyist trying to get their enrollments up.

One lobby group vs another.

Quoted from RPEGCL

I don't care much for Angelo, but why would we want to agree with the Governor's "education act"? Give tax payer money to families so they can send their kids to non-public schools are you nuts. If you want you kids to go to private school then buck up and pay for it yourself, but you are not getting me to pay for it. This is the Charter and Catholic school lobbyist trying to get their enrollments up.

One lobby group vs another.

A friend of mine lives on California Avenue. He pays $3,000 a year in school taxes.

He has paid out of pocket for all of his 4 children to go to Catholic schools.

Schenectady pays for his kids books only.

Sure the cost kills him, but his kids aren't baggy a** underwear hangin out thugs.

The oldest just started college.

Quoted from RPEGCL

I don't care much for Angelo, but why would we want to agree with the Governor's "education act"? Give tax payer money to families so they can send their kids to non-public schools are you nuts. If you want you kids to go to private school then buck up and pay for it yourself, but you are not getting me to pay for it. This is the Charter and Catholic school lobbyist trying to get their enrollments up.

One lobby group vs another.

So you want to force people to pay for your service, but you don't want to be forced to pay for theirs?  

Quoted from CICERO

So you want to force people to pay for your service, but you don't want to be forced to pay for theirs?  

My service? I don't want to pay that either but we all are still going to pay for the public school in our town through taxes, but with this plan we are going to pay again for those who decide they don't want to send their kids through the system that is offered by their town payed for by their taxes.

If you don't like your school do something about it or move to a district you like, but don't ask to make me pay for your kid to change schools.

The legislation is not giving taxpayer dollars to parochial or private schools.  It would give a tax credit to those who donate money to parochial, private and/or public schools.  It would give a tax credit to folks who send their child to a parochial or private school.
NYSUT is just plain lying about the legislation.
Bottomline -- there are many Catholic voters who will NOT support a state legislator who does NOT support this legislation.  November 2016 is not that far away.  We will remember who voted with us or against us.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

The legislation is not giving taxpayer dollars to parochial or private schools.  It would give a tax credit to those who donate money to parochial, private and/or public schools.  It would give a tax credit to folks who send their child to a parochial or private school.
NYSUT is just plain lying about the legislation.
Bottomline -- there are many Catholic voters who will NOT support a state legislator who does NOT support this legislation.  November 2016 is not that far away.  We will remember who voted with us or against us.

Quoted Text

The Act provides for $150 million in education tax credits annually that will provide:

-Tax credits to low-income families who send their children to nonpublic schools,
-Scholarships to low- and middle-income students to attend either a public school outside of their district or a nonpublic school,
-Incentives to public schools for enhanced educational programming (like after school programs); and,
-Tax credits to public school teachers for the purchase of supplies.

The above came directly from the Governors site and says "tax credits and Scholarships for student who go to NON-PUBLIC SCHOOLS"
I never said it was giving moneys directly to the non public schools. It gives state tax payer moneys to families who send their child to a private or parochial school. TAX PAYER MONEY so you don't have to send your kids to the school you don't like, that our taxes are already paying for.

Their is a changing landscape out there and the Catholics are loosing ground.

US Religious makeup - 7 years ago the Catholics were at 28% nation wide


NYS


World religious makeup

Quoted from Libertarian4life

A friend of mine lives on California Avenue. He pays $3,000 a year in school taxes.
He has paid out of pocket for all of his 4 children to go to Catholic schools.
Schenectady pays for his kids books only.
Sure the cost kills him, but his kids aren't baggy a** underwear hangin out thugs.
The oldest just started college.

If I lived in the city of Schenectady I would most likely be sending my kids elsewhere too. So far Mohon has not been over run by the "Pants on the Ground" kids but I see changes everyday to the culture of the town and school.

this would be opening Pandora's box!
Right or wrong....beneficial or not.......decades from now the government will meld ALL schools under one government brainwashing school system.

Quoted Text

PRESIDENT OBAMA: We don’t dispute that the free market is the greatest producer of wealth in history -- it has lifted billions of people out of poverty. We believe in property rights, rule of law, so forth. But there has always been trends in the market in which concentrations of wealth can lead to some being left behind. And what’s happened in our economy is that those who are doing better and better -- more skilled, more educated, luckier, having greater advantages -- are withdrawing from sort of the commons -- kids start going to private schools; kids start working out at private clubs instead of the public parks. An anti-government ideology then disinvests from those common goods and those things that draw us together. And that, in part, contributes to the fact that there’s less opportunity for our kids, all of our kids. http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread1067331/pg1

Be careful what you wish for.

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

The legislation is not giving taxpayer dollars to parochial or private schools.  It would give a tax credit to those who donate money to parochial, private and/or public schools.  It would give a tax credit to folks who send their child to a parochial or private school.
NYSUT is just plain lying about the legislation.
...

Once again you have proven you are NOT a taxpayer, you have no understanding of taxes at all.

A person donates $2,000.   In the absence of this donation, when the person files his/her tax return, the person owes the state $100.  But because they get this credit, the person will get a tax refund of perhaps $500, maybe more.  Depending on the actual amount of the donation, the person very well could get a tax refund IN EXCESS of the amount withheld during the year.  Similar to the people who get EITC , they have been having $2,000 withheld during the year from pay, but they get a tax refunds of $6,000 and these refunds have been going on for years


Tax credits result in the government collecting less taxes by  SPECIFIC GROUP of people off the hook for paying the full tax bill.  It's not all that much different from your buddy McTHIEF who, because of all the pilots, the city collects less money from his cronies meaning the homeowners have to pay higher taxes.

Quoted from mikechristine1

Tax credits result in the government collecting less taxes by  SPECIFIC GROUP of people off the hook for paying the full tax bill.  It's not all that much different from your buddy McTHIEF who, because of all the pilots, the city collects less money from his cronies meaning the homeowners have to pay higher taxes.

It results in less tax collection, but MORE overall private investment into education. I don't think this has any affect on local school taxes collected through property tax.  My understanding it that the donation is credited against state income taxes.

I disagree with the comparison to PILOT's.  PILOTS are politically granted to select individuals.  This tax credit is eligible to everybody.  You could donate money to Schenectady City Schools and get the tax credit.

If you donate $1000 dollars to Schenectady Schools and get $200 back in a credit, doesn't the school get a net increase of $800 of revenue?  

Quoted from CICERO

It results in less tax collection, but MORE overall private investment into education. I don't think this has any affect on local school taxes collected through property tax.  My understanding it that the donation is credited against state income taxes.

I disagree with the comparison to PILOT's.  PILOTS are politically granted to select individuals.  This tax credit is eligible to everybody.  You could donate money to Schenectady City Schools and get the tax credit.

If you donate $1000 dollars to Schenectady Schools and get $200 back in a credit, doesn't the school get a net increase of $800 of revenue?  

I don't believe you can donate $1,000 to a school district directly, and get the credit, but I could be wrong, I haven't seen the actual legislation, then of course, after the fact there is the interpretation.  

True it's not the local property tax, but what keeps the school property tax in check to an extent is that the state gives the school districts money.  If the state is giving bigger refunds to people, then the state might have less money to give to the districts.  

I don't see how it's going to help parents who send their children to private or parochial schools.  With tuition anywhere from $5,000 per child to perhaps $20,000 per child, the puny $500 credit the parents will get is nothing.  And actually has the tax credit been really defined clearly?  Will the $500 simply be a subtraction from the family's income, thus lowering the taxable income amount?   Or will it be an amount on a tax line after the taxable amount is determined.  Then the next question is wondering how this credit will be done, as an example, take a look at the IT-214, the questions involved, the math involved, after which one determines the amount (varies for everyone), then transferred to the tax return but it is an amount subtracted from the tax liability amount

Too many questions unanswered

We need state legislators that will put the needs of students and parents BEFORE the needs of special interest groups and high-paid union officials/lobbyists.  
Tell our state legislators to vote YES on the Parental Choice in Education Act.