Support ‘Freedom of Education'

To the editor: “Isn’t there anything you can do to lessen the school taxes?” asked Frank Compitello at a recent meeting of the Warwick Town Board (The Warwick Advertiser, July 28). He could be speaking for many taxpayers, not only in the Warwick Valley, but also in any school district throughout the state. School administrators and school boards routinely respond to this often-asked question by citing rising maintenance costs, union contracts and state unfunded mandates. Lawmakers express concern by conducting hearings seeking input for the option of shifting funding for the public school system from one group of taxpayers to another - meaning higher sales taxes for consumers, higher income taxes for wage earners and investors and higher corporate taxes for job producers. Many school officials won’t listen to a single proposal that would result in the lessening of school taxes. So, in response to Mr. Compitello’s question, the answer is, yes, by lending support to the passage of the proposed Freedom of Education Act, now before the state legislature as S.332 and A.5751. Under the act, any owner of real estate in any school district who pays all or part of the actual expenses of tuition and/or textbooks for any student who is a resident of that district, in any public or private elementary or secondary school, could receive a credit for school taxes. This credit would be an amount not to exceed 90 percent of the taxpayer’s school real property tax assessment. The proposed Freedom of Education Act is neither a taxpayer-funded subsidy, nor a voucher, nor a grant, since no money passes from any governmental entity to any individual. The act merely allows private individuals to keep a portion of their own monies to spend on educational expenses as they see best. As an added benefit, any increase in the amount of tuition-supported schooling resulting from passage of the act would decrease the amount of money needed for tax-supported schooling. Edward P. Scharfenberger Chairman, Warwick Taxpayers Association