State not living up to its obligations to Catholic schools

Below is an article in the Journal News this morning, written by James Cultrara, director for education, New York State Catholic Conference, and co-chairman, New York State Coalition for Independent and Religious Schools. It lays out the issues and the need for the Legislative Forum better than I ever could. Hope to see many of you tonight.

“State not living up to its obligations to Catholic schools”
January 28, 2009
by James D. Cultrara

The schools in the Archdiocese of New York, including those in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, are now at a critical juncture as we strive to maintain our standards of educational excellence while keeping our schools accessible and affordable to the thousands of children who want a Catholic education.

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We are not new to the struggle of keeping Catholic schools affordable. What is new, however, is that our efforts are being aggravated by the failure of state lawmakers and agency officials to reimburse religious and independent schools for 100 percent of the costs they incur in complying with state mandates and participating in state programs — seemingly in direct violation of the state's 35-year-old Mandated Services Reimbursement statute, which requires the state to reimburse religious and independent schools for complying with administrative mandates.

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(The Journal News prohibits posting the article on our website)