“I am opposed to the governor’s so-called ‘Education Tax Credit’ or ‘ETC.’ It would not benefit middle class families who sacrifice to send their children to private or parochial school. The $500 tuition tax credit that only applies to families with total household income of less than $60,000 would not provide real relief for families struggling to afford these schools.

“Furthermore, middle-class families with limited disposable income do not have the resources to donate substantial money to these schools, and thus are not in a position to take advantage of the provisions designed to support private or parochial school foundations. They do not have the resources to both pay tuition and make large donations. The 75 to 90 percent tax credit on donations of up to $1 million for each individual or corporation that contributes to private or parochial school foundations would only assure that some wealthy individuals pay no taxes, thus exacerbating the disproportionate tax burden that already falls on the middle class.

“Although I am a product exclusively of private school education, I cannot support the governor’s proposal. At a time when our public schools are in dire financial need, still falling drastically short of the minimum funding required by our state’s highest court, we should not be handing out lucrative benefits to the wealthiest of private and religious school donors at the expense of 2.7 million students in New York State’s public schools. Instead of schemes that only benefit the wealthy, we need to fully fund our public schools just as our state’s highest court commanded.”