The Sheriff of State Street is supporting a tuition tax deduction for families going to private schools. From the Albany Times Union.

Spitzer is proposing a tuition tax deduction for families who pay private or parochial school tuition.
[snip]
The current proposal would let families claim a tax deduction of up to $1,000 per child, and it would apply to incomes of up to $125,000. The estimated tax savings would be $60 and $80 per student, said Aaron Troodler, legislative director for the Sephardic Community Federation, a Brooklyn-based organization of Jewish groups that includes some 20 yeshivas, or religious schools, and along with the Catholic Conference, is an enthusiastic backer of the plan.

Frankly, the Governor fails on this one. I’m not one to have our public tax dollars fund private or religious instruction. Period. One chooses to substitute free public education with private education.

I see this as nothing more than a slippery slope and where you do stop? Sort of like privatizing social security. Per George Bush’s failed proposal, first, it is some small amount, then the Wall street you where you famously rode herd has access to billion dollars in new investment opportunity and a very nice government mandated cash flow.

Once you start you can’t stop.

If public schools in the area are not up to par then take the tax dollars and wisely invest it to improve them. This may mean some as of yet undefined hard choices but every American kid is entitled to a public school education. As you said in your inauguration speech, we didn’t elect you do easy, we elected you to do what is right. The right thing is to fix the public schools.

The Governor ties private schools and reglious schools together with tax breaks so below the fold you can read the arguments against public funding of religious schools. Including a response to a myopic LTE that misses the point that there is a price to pay when you check out of a community.

Thanks for continuing.

If parents don’t like the curriculum then they have the right to home school their kids or put them in private school. I know there is a cost associated with sending a kid to a private religious school.

Undoubtedly, someone will have an example of the poor inner city kid is given the educational opportunity because his hard working parents are sending them to a private or religious school and they deserve a tax break.

OK - my point is that the meager tax break - an estimated $80 - 90 per child - is not going to induce more kids to go to private or religious schools. I’m afraid it just reinforces people like this as adequately represented in this LTE by Michael Hennessy in Monday’s D&C

But once that person, or any other, chooses to pay tuition out of pocket, for any reason — religious or otherwise — to educate a child, he or she has removed a child from that district’s tax burden, and should be entitled to a tax credit, period.

And frankly, as a conservative and a Christian, I am opposed to much of the curriculum being taught in the public schools.

When I want my child to learn about sex, alternate lifestyles, most health issues and other social topics, I’ll teach him at home, thank you. Just keep it to reading, writing and arithmetic and maybe, someday, I’ll reconsider sending my kid to a public school.

There is a cost to check of out a community if you hold private beliefs and Mr Hennessy should pay it. Taxes are the investment you make to live in and maintain a community. Sure, you can find occasion where tax dollars or other governmental revenue opportunities are spent unwisely. The fast ferry comes to mind as does Maggie Brooks using non reoccurring the Tobacco settlement money to shore up the budget, or the Riga landfill one shot budget fix or the Airport land deal or 12B dollars in Iraq or all of Iraq for that matter.

The point here is that is why we have elections to hold people accountable for squandering our communal resources. Be they President of the United States or elected School Board officials.

So - Want to support private or religious schools? Ask their Alumni network and pay tuition. If it is that good or valuable, surely it is worth funding by graduates. I contribute to the next generation of public school graduates everytime every time I pay my taxes. Keep the public school tax dollars for public schools.

All these arguments before we get into separation of Church and State which in my opinion makes tax breaks for religious instruction a non-starter.

I’m not with you on this one Governor Spitzer.