Catholic schools help mend NY budget mess

If you are grinding your teeth about the current state of economic affairs, these days Buffalo public school districts are coming up with plans to deal with the $1.25  billion cut in state aid.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo proposed $1.5 billion in funding reductions to schools, to close the budget deficit without raising taxes. This was approved March 31.

Public school district leaders are discussing laying off teachers, closing schools, and increasing class sizes, to name a few. School budgets will be voted on in the coming weeks. Based on the rejected proposal of spending $130 million on schools in Niagara Falls, it appears taxpayers are in no mood to increase taxes and spending.

New York provides Catholic schools were partial reimbursement for state mandated services like standardized tests, but the governor is reducing those payments by eight percent. The governor asked the bishops how there could be greater cooperation between New York and the church.

“You all tell us in the government that you want quality education, you need to save money and you need more room,” said Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan. “We can help you in all three. We do the best job around, we’ll do it at half price and we’ve got room. It’s a no brainer.”

Catholic schools save New York taxpayers $8 billion a year. If these 200,000 students were thrust into the public schools, they would collapse. Catholic schools also outperform public schools. Williamsville Central School District boasts a 73 percent of graduates going on to college (the highest in all publics) compared to Catholic schools where 98 percent are college bound.

Catholic schools are available, affordable and accessible, and when faced with budget cuts in schools all over the state, they just might be the way to go.

In 2006, the Vatican released the document, “The Holy See’s Teaching on Catholic Schools,” which pointed out, “It is Catholic because it undertakes to educate the whole person. It provides an education in the intellectual and moral virtues, because it prepares for a fully human life at the service of others.”

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