Governor's message pleases and disappoints

The Governor's proposals on education include free tuition for college students willing to teach in disadvantaged areas, a "Summer in the City" tutoring program, allowing professionals in other fields to teach without teaching credentials, permitting retired public servants to pursue teaching careers, helping uncertified teachers to pass certification tests, supporting charter schools, creating curricula that teach decency and allowing teachers to remove disruptive students from their classrooms.

The New York State Catholic Conference, which speaks for the state's bishops in matters of public policy, was disappointed that Gov. Pataki did not include Catholic schools when mentioning charter schools.

Falling short

If Gov. Pataki wants to promote values-based education, Conference officials said, he might consider that such ideals are "a worthy objective already central to religious schools."

Sister Jane Herb, IHM, superintendent of schools for the Albany Diocese, also noted that "it remains to be seen what the Governor means by `expanded choice.' Hopefully, it will include the choice of religious schools."

The superintendent was pleased to hear of the Governor's incentive plans for teachers in disadvantaged schools. "This could assist our teachers in the inner city and other urban areas," she said.

Sister Jane also termed values-based education "one of the main characteristics of our schools. This, together with other points, speaks to the importance of parents being involved in the education of their children."

Jobs and welfare

Gov. Pataki spoke of plans to create "technology enterprise zones" and stimulate economic growth in the state in other ways, and boasted that New York's welfare rolls have dropped by 754,000 people who are now "working [and] succeeding."

The Conference applauded the idea of job creation through tax incentives, low-cost energy, enterprise zones and regulatory reform. However, officials cautioned that "there is no plan to monitor the effects of welfare reform. Without monitoring, there is no way of knowing how many of these hundreds of thousands have left poverty for work."

Crime and punishment

The Governor then called for three-time misdemeanor offenders to be prosecuted as felons and for an end to parole for nonviolent felons.

"While we are gratified by the Governor's proposals to assist crime victims," responded the Catholic Conference, "it is disconcerting to find no consideration of alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent offenders."

The Conference was also concerned that Gov. Pataki did not mention reforming the Rockefeller Drug Laws.

Life and death

Finally, the Conference was disappointed in something the Governor did not discuss: abortion.

"While correctly declaring that `all New York children must have a fair chance to fulfill their dreams,' the Governor ignored the plight of more than 100,000 pre-born children who die by abortion in our state each year, never having had the chance to fulfill their dreams," Conference officials stated.

The Conference criticized the Governor for not addressing "the need to stop the particularly barbaric practice of infanticide known as partial-birth abortion."

Conference officials sent a plea to state legislators: "We urge our state government to advance policies that consistently serve to build a culture of life."

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