Ruling hailed by New York educators

Reacting to the 5-4 ruling were:

* JAMES D. CULTRARA, director for education of the New York State Catholic Conference, who said, "The decision is a great victory for parents and children. The Court has affirmed programs that allow parents to direct their children's education, thereby laying to rest the notion that parental choice in education is somehow unconstitutional. This is a most welcome development and is consistent with earlier court rulings acknowledging the central role of parents in making educational choices for their children."

* SISTER CATHARINE RYAN, CSJ, director of the Catholic School Administrators Association of New York State, headquartered in Albany, who said the decision is an important step to seeing school choice in New York State. "The decision indicates that true parental choice is constitutional," she said. "I think it's still going to be a long road, but I think it is wonderful for those children in Cleveland."

* THOMAS FITZGERALD, assistant superintendent of schools in the Albany Diocese, who said the decision opens the door for New York State legislators to begin exploring the option of school choice. "We are very pleased," he said.

New York chances

* According to Dr. Fitzgerald, the climate for school choice in the state is warming as evidenced by the charter school movement. "In New York State, we've had 20 or 30 years of education reform efforts," he said. "Part of each of these efforts included school choice, but each of these efforts stopped short of parental choice."

* Mr. Cultrara has also seen signs of change in the state. "The school choice movement is gaining momentum," he said. "Five years ago, you wouldn't see school choice legislation. Now we have half-a-dozen legislators and ten or 11 bills for school choice. There are more bills now than there have been in the past. It shows that the legislators are sensitive to the needs of their constituents."

Bishops' stand

Currently, only those New Yorkers who can afford to move into a good public school district or pay tuition to a private school can provide their children with the best education possible, he noted. "When it comes to education," Mr. Cultrara said, "we continue to discriminate against the poor.

"The Church is not against public schools. We support a strong public school system. We don't think [school choice] will harm public education; we think it will strengthen it. If we thought it would harm it, we wouldn't support it."

Benefits

"Private education is less expensive than public school education," he said. "School choice will save the state money while providing more diverse educational choices."

In addition to saving the state money, school choice would give parents more leverage in providing their children with an education. Said Dr. Fitzgerald: "Parents are the first teachers of their children. We need to empower parents."

Call your legislator

"New York's Governor and Legislature now have the green light to allow parents to send their children to schools that work," he said. "Will they take advantage of this opportunity, or continue to defend the interests of the government school bureaucracy?"

(For information on how to contact state legislators, visit the Catholic Conference's website at www.nyscatholicconference.org.)

(07-04-02) [[In-content Ad]]