The following is a NY Post article:
Albany, NY – What chutzpah!
An $18 million tuition subsidy devised by Gov. Paterson as a political gift to the city’s Orthodox Jewish community has emerged as an 11th-hour sticking point in budget talks, The Post has learned.
The unprecedented expansion of the state’s Tuition Assistance Program – derisively dubbed “Rabbi TAP” by frustrated budget negotiators — guarantees grants of up to $5,000 a year to at least 3,660 students at a few dozen rabbinical schools in the city and suburbs.
Paterson slipped the program into his 2010-11 spending plan while he was planning to run for election and desperately courting political support from the Orthodox. The controversy comes at a time when he’s demanding massive cuts to public colleges and universities.
The Assembly is seeking to kill the program, sources said. That has sparked a clash with Senate Finance Chairman Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn), who calls the subsidy a “must have.”
“Obviously, it’s totally inappropriate to advance a significant new program, when we’re cutting SUNY, when we’re cutting CUNY, when we’re cutting community colleges,” said Assembly Higher Education Chairwoman Deborah Glick (D-Manhattan).
Students at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Manhattan, a non-religious private school, would also be eligible for TAP, thanks to tortured legislative language used in an attempt to ensure it passes constitutional muster.
Paterson spokesman Morgan Hook said the program was intended to “create parity” in aid for rabbinical students.
(Source: NY Post)
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4 Responses
Glick is an open Mushchas, so, naturally, she hates orthodox Jews, even though she was born of Jewish parents.
“Machrevaich Umeharsaich memeich yetzeu.”
A spot in college is a terrible thing to waste.
How much tuition subsidy do we give each to students at SUNY and CUNY who don’t spend the number of hours learning that students at rabbinical colleges spend in serious learning?
What gives the greater number of New York student learning hours – $18M to strictly secular studies? Or $18M that applies to yeshiva students (and music students)?
Is it also totally inappropriate to advance a significant new homeland security program at a time of belt tightening?
If huge numbers ofyeshiva students suddenly apply for SUNY and CUNY admission and are given the same grants that leave no student behind, would they immediately be eligible for more than $18M of state tuition assistance? Would that help the higher education budget?
Perhaps what we need is a “secular studies depletion allowance” by which yeshivish farmers are paid to not grow whatever crops are popular on campus farms at our “institutions of lower morality”.
It is no secret that our institutions are struggling. Also not a secret is that our community gets very little in state aid for the hundreds of millions in taxes we pay. TAP is made available to all city, state and private colleges but not Rabbinical colleges because of a flaw in the State law that required a change.Other states like NJ fund programs like TAP for rabbinical colleges without any issues. But in NYS where the teachers unions own the legislature they have put up every possible road block to our children’s education. This mean spirited article in the NY Post continues that selfish trend. Dont be fooled.Our children deserve education assistamnce. For years the state has hidden behind the Blane amendment and other church-state issues to deny our children education assistance. The Federal Gov recognizes (through AARTS) all of our legitimate rabbinical colleges and provides pell grants to qualifying students but NYS did not-until now. This new amended law will provide a “SMALL” measure of equity for our rabbinical students. It is not a gift! The unions and opponents of our community will try to block this $18 million for our schools every way possible. This money, our money is a pittance in a multi -billion dollar budget.This plan will help every single post high school yeshiva in New york state. Every single one! The officials who are supporting this program have heroically gone out of their way to support this program to help alleviate the tremendous burden our parents are dealing with. Thank you Gov. Paterson, Shelly Silver, John Sampson,Carl Kruger and of course the champion of TAP -Dov Hikind for their fearless leadership in the face of threats and pressure. This is a legal and justifiable way for our rabbinical colleges to get SOMETHING in the form of tuition assistance. We need all people who care about Klal yisroel and our mosdos to speak the truth and support and defend this important and groundbreaking plan! Our opponents must know that WE will continue to fight and fight hard for equity for our children.
why should we expect the goyish govt to subsidize our torah learning?