NAACP NEW YORK STATE CONFERENCE PRESIDENT L. JOY WILLIAMS CONDEMNS NEW FEDERAL RULES GOVERNING EDUCATION FREEDOM TAX CREDIT
Urges NY Governor Hochul to Not Opt Into the Program, Which Redirects Federal Tax Dollars Away from Public Priorities and Toward Private Education
“The Governor may promise that opting into this school voucher program will help New York’s neediest public school students, but these regulations give her no authority to guarantee that outcome. New York can create a public school scholarship option, but it can’t require donors to fund it, enact legislation or policy requiring SGOs to prioritize needy districts, or prevent these federally subsidized contributions from flowing instead to private and religious school tuition programs that already have established fundraising networks, leaving them best positioned to capture the money.
“Students in our highest need public school districts already experience the consequences of unequal private giving. Their schools often have PTAs that cannot raise what wealthier communities can, while private schools and well resourced charter networks may begin with established development operations, major donors, alumni networks, and institutional fundraising capacity. This program would place yet another burden on public school parents, teachers, and principals, asking them to build fundraising operations and compete for charitable dollars simply to secure resources their students need. That is not equity. It’s a wish and a prayer built on the same inequities it claims to address.”
“This is not a program designed to bolster public education. The possibility that some public school students may receive tutoring or other services is being used to sell a program whose rules prevent New York from guaranteeing that those students will benefit. In practice, the program is structured to bolster private and religious schools and advance the federal administration’s broader effort to dismantle, defund, and divest from public education. New York should not lend its name or its participation to that agenda.”
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