Attention residents of New York: Take Action to receive a historic tax deduction for private school education! Urge Governor Spitzer and your Legislators this week to keep the Tuition Tax Deduction in the final State Budget!Governor Spitzer and the New York State Senate are proposing a Tuition Tax Deduction of $1,000 per child to help families who are working hard to pay their private school tuition. This is a historic policy change. It is the first time in New York State history that the State will recognize a parent’s right to, and sacrifice in, choosing the best education for their children. This proposal is even more important as it could set a precedent for future State budgets.
Special interests, like the state teachers’ union, are pressuring your representatives to get rid of it. They are running radio ads and buying up billboard space – even as the Governor and Legislature are giving them billions in new funding of their own.
Do not let special interests keep you from getting this tax break!
Time is running out. The State Budget is supposed to be adopted by March 31.
Call or e-mail your legislators and the Governor TODAY!
Insist that the Tuition Tax Deduction be included in the final State Budget.
The teachers’ unions are spending thousands and thousands of dollars to convince legislators not to help you. Your legislator must hear from their constituents. They must hear from you.
Use the sample below. To find your State Senator click HERE. To find your Assemblymember click HERE.
Dear Governor Spitzer (Dear Senator __________, Dear Assemblymember _____________,) This year’s proposed budget adds a record $7 billion in additional funds to public schools. The proposed budget also provides a modest yet historic tax deduction for families working hard to pay tuition. This tax deduction is urgently needed and is a matter of fairness. Any parent, regardless of income, should be allowed the opportunity to select their child’s school, including a religious school. I urge you to help all children in all schools by fighting to include the Tuition Tax Deduction in the final State Budget. Please let me know I can count on you to stand up for the average New Yorker against the special interests.
Sincerely,
Addresses & Phone Numbers:
Governor Eliot Spitzer, State Capitol, Albany, New York 12224 PHONE: 518-474-8390
Senator _____________, State Capitol, Albany, New York, 12247 PHONE: 518-455-2800 – (Senate Operator)
Assembly member ______, State Capital, Albany, New York 12248 PHONE: 518-455-4100 – (Assm. Operator)
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35 Responses
OH YOU BET IT IS EATING UP MY PCKET
BUBBY: I don’t think there will be any tax deduction for bubbies!! Even if you pay your eineklach’s tuition!!
I don’t think this will help at all. All that’ll happen is the yeshivos will raise your tuition by $1000.
Can they do it in Michigan too?
I’m sinking in the RED !
We have been down this road before. Unfortunately we are dealing with a bunch of goyim who really are not concerned with the spiritual or monetary needs of their frum constituents. There may be some covert anti-semitism going on here. We have not been successful in the past.
We keep asking for good news…now we get some and again there are complaints??????? There is nothing to loose and possibly much to gain by sending in letters and making calls. What is the big deal? Just do it.
The Yeshivos will not raise their tuitions! This is only a tax credit for you. It is not a refund check of $1000 per child. (and besides “Kishka” I personally feel that was a low blow attack and Motzi Shem Ra on Yeshivos)
I think that if the Agudah, Torah Umesorah, Malcolm Hoenline, YeshivaWorld etc etc. the ones who are really on the front lines fighting for Klal Yisroel in any way they can – if they ask us to do something it is high time we stop hocking and start doing. Everyone has an opinion but how many really do an action. Emor Me’at V’asay Habay – just do what you are asked to do even if you don’t think it will really make a difference.
kishke,
well you’re wrong. This year in NY there is a $330 per child tax credit and the yeshiva did not raise my tuition. Which raises the question, why don’t they just keep that. That’s a better deal than a $1,000 tax deduction which nets you only about $100.
Does the cost of Yeshiva Tuition upset you? NO!
When I dovened for children, I dovened for tuition bills. can I afford full tuition for my children, some years yes and other years no. The money spent on tuition for a Yeshiva education is the best investment of money people can make.
would the deduction and or the credit help? yes, and if passed, I will avail myself of it.
Property taxes are sky high to pay for the waste and the bloat in the public schools – East Ramapo (for those not in this district, this is the area that covers Monsey, NY and other villages/hamlets in the area) is proposing a $186M budget for ~9,000 public school childeren. It takes a lot of tax $’s to foot that bill. I view the deduction as a “rebate” of property taxes earmarked for the school district for those who send to private school as opposed to an ease of the “burden” of tuition bills.
DAVE375 YOUR PROBBELY PAYING THRUE YOURE NOSE SO YOURE HAPPY
dave375.
YOU are wrong and kishke is RIGHT…
when they were giving vouchers here in NY the moised that my einiklech go to, DID take this into account and charged my son accordingly.
they even had the CHUTZPEH to tell him that his tuition bill is higher since he’s getting vouchers.
i will keep the name of the moised confidential, BUT what i could say is that my son spoke to his friends who have children in other schools and their situation was the same.
26 estates…
my answer to dave375 applies to your post too.
what kishke said is NOT a ‘low blow attack’ and is NOT ‘Motzi Shem Ra on Yeshivos’
he is stating a fact that happens to be TRUE!
scy4851 please do not spread a lie. No Yeshiva did that, none ever will. I have 1st hand knowledge on EVERY yeshiva’s tuition policies as that is part of what i do for a living. This never happened.
Maybe you were not told the exact story of what happened with your son and aineklach but his tuition bill was certainly not higher because he got vouchers. What probably happend was that the school was giving him a very significant schloarship and once he got the vouchers they told him to pay the school what the real tuition was (or probably the full value of the voucher) and he may have expected a kick back which would have been illegal so on paper it looked like he got a tuition raise.
Shame on you for trying to make it look like our Heliga Yeshivos are run by Ganovim……
What happens if you work off the books ? Do you still get the deduction?
what’s the difference?
hotzaas bonov letalmud torah—
kol hamoysif moysifin loy
if it is such a problem just send your kid to public school (sarchastically)
if your sending your kid to a frum mosad than don`t have charatah
Hey Rochel::
There are many nonjews who benefit and are looking forward to benefitting from this tax credit since they send their kids to private and parochial school. This is not an anti-semitic issue at all, we are such a small part of the population and this tax credit will be a large savings for our kehilla.
If you pay $50 g.’s a year tuition, and that is app. my tuition bill, you have to earn more then 80,000 to net 50 to pay the tuiton.
It is a crime. We pay property taxes, we should not have to pay so much. It has ruined many families, in terms of Sholom Bayis. Something has to be done!
“What probably happend was that the school was giving him a very significant schloarship and once he got the vouchers they told him to pay the school what the real tuition was”
You’re confirming my point. Most people get scholarships of some kind. The yeshivos, instead of keeping the tuition at the former rate, will simply end the scholarship, thereby raising your tuition in real terms. Bottom line: You will gain nothing from the vouchers.
It gets worse, though. In places where school funding derives from property taxes, vouchers will very probably end up costing you money. Consider: The yeshivos will raise your tuition (or take away your scholarship) in response to the voucher. The property taxes will rise to pay for the vouchers. Result: You pay going and coming.
Yisroel, could you explain what you mean by working off the books?
AH YESHIVA TUITION!!!
OUR FAVORITE SUBJECT!!!
Yes we all know that yeshivas and bais yakovs have expenses but how should they be funded??
First, my dream is that the government will acccept that yeshiva IS NOT private schooling but RELIGIOUS schooling (how many of us would send our kids to yeshiva if we were not religios jews – I am not kidding!!!) – so why dont we get a total deduction off our income taxes??? (Also if all these nice people who who are presently in yeshiva would be in public school instead of yeshiva, the public schools would be much better.)
But this is not happenning I dont think anytime soon.
But…
At least yeshiva administrators should unerstand this in sofar as making demand on the parent body versus making demands on the community??
Is it the parents fault that the Riboneh Shel Olam created young people with very few assets to have children ??? Is it only parents who have to take care of the next generation!!!???
The obligation is as per R yehoshua ben Gamla on all JEWS!!!
When my children started to graduate elementery school I was hoping not to stop paying tuition to the elementery school but CONTINUE to pay the elementary school UNTIL I saw the HS tuition bill.
If everybody, even retired people would take on contributing to the local yeshivas – there would be no need for such high tuition bills,
Again, we send our children to yeshivas and by to learn how to be Jews (religion) – not for the snob appeal of private better schools!
Any thoughts???
i know that this foesn’t have much to do with the whole $1000 / voucher issue but it addresses the whole high tuition problem in general;
i think that the way scholarships are dealt with is what causes the tuitions to be so high. If tuitions were lower to begin with, then fewer people would need scholarships, thereby, the yeshivos collecting more tuiton moneys. Additionally, and more importantly, i think that instead of hiking up tuition costs to cover the lack of funds from those on scholarships, the parents should be required to pay the cost of their children’s education (teachers’ salaries, etc.) and not the cost of their children’s education plus the cost of another kid’s tuition (that second child being one on scholarship). Again, i think this would lower the number of families needing tuition breaks. the scholarship money should be made up other ways(but that’s a different issue). I also think that a parent who was once on a scholarship and can now, later on. afford more, should now make up the difference by giving large donations to that school which can be applied to other scholarships.
The population that sends to private and parochial schools is very, very small. Look at the situation here in Brooklyn. Almost all of the Catholic schools have been closed. The public school system has been very successful in lobbying the state governments to create state funding, control federal funding, and most importantly create regulations that it makes it virtually impossible for private schools to function. The fact is, the public school system is building new schools and the ones in existence are packed. But, it is being very naive to believe that there is not covert anti-semitism going on here.
it is being very naive to believe that there is not covert anti-semitism going on here.
To the contrary, I think it is stunningly naive to attribute governmental resistance to what could turn out to be a huge and very expensive entitlement program to anti-semitism.
scy4851 Says:
March 21st, 2007 at 3:35 pm
dave375.
YOU are wrong and kishke is RIGHT…
when they were giving vouchers here in NY the moised that my einiklech go to, DID take this into account and charged my son accordingly.
scy4851,
Can I ask you where are you getting vouchers from? I’m talking about something that lowers your tax bill when you file your tax return. If you’re getting vouchers, you are right that the mosad has a right to that money. And no, I don’t work for any mosad or yeshivah.
all the yeshivas should get professional fundraisers so that they can solicit
all types of people so instead of giving uja so they can have fancy dinners let them give to the frum institutions instead it will be diffcult in the beginning but it will happen. this way parents will not have to pay such tuitions and the mothers can be home to take care of the kids instead of working to pay the tuitions
if you pay a Rebbi 60,000 a year and 1 english teacher 20,000 a year that gives you 80,000 in expenses. Divide that by lets say 28 kids in the class that means that just to pay the Rebbi and teacher it cost the Yeshiva 2,857 per child in the room.
Factor in the expenses for the mortgage, heat, electric, food, administrative staff, office staff, assistants, other faculty members, supplies, maintenance, janitorial, transportation and all other expenses a school has in order to operate……total all those annual expenses and then divide that total number by the number of students in the school….now add that number to the 2,857 already needed from each child and it is painfully obvious that NO yeshiva can cover it’s expenses without active fundraising.
Don’t say it is too complicated to figure it out. The truth is do this for your own family….take your annual expenses and divide that by the amount of people in your home and that will tell you what it costs you just to live in your own home.
B”H the RBS”O blesses Klal Yisroel with many large families. B”H there is are Mitzvos in the Torah that “obligate” us to give tzedakka, to lend money etc. B”H the RBS”O made some rich and B”H he made some not as rich…..we all need to do our share and be thankful for the opportunity. If it is hard for you and you need a scholarship ask for it. If it is easy for you and you can pay all your expenses and have left over funds then look around at your friends, neighbors, family and see who you can assist. Go to the school and say that you know so and so can use the help and offer to help.
Just don’t blame the Yeshivas – it is a cop-out. I myself have KA”H 7 children in school. My collective tuition bills are over 37,000 a year. It is nearly impossible to pay that based on what I earn. But you know what that is not the Yeshivas problem. It is mine. I choose to live in the community I live in. I choose to send my children to the schools they attend and I have to figure out how to make it work. I don’t blame the Yeshivos. I wish they couuld pay the Rabbeim and teachers more.
Just don’t blame the Yeshivas – it is a cop-out.
WHO IS BLAMING THE YESHIVAS??
Actually who is the Yeshivas if not us, the Jewish community???
But do not put the obligation of support on the parents!! As a parent the yeshiva administrator has no right to ask me to donate, yes donate, not more than my chelek in being a member of the jewish community.
The problen herein is that you you cannot force non parents to contribute and you have the parents by the “gergel” to pay or not have their children attend yeshiva.
The job is on the yeshiva administrator to resolve this and in the absence of a formal community to impose a tax on all frum jews (with and without children in yeshiva) to support our yeshivas and bais yakovs, it is indeed a very very difficult job to do.
The Yeshiva administrator has EVERY right to ask you to help out. If you can please do if you can’t then don’t.
If you give with a smile and an open heart the Torah your children learn will be with a smile and an open heart.
If all your kids hear at home is Yeshiva bashing and you complaining about the system they will have the wrong attitiute towards their school. If they see and hear at home that you are always complaing or are always upset with their School / Rebbi / administrator etc. they will resent the school for causing you pain. Our children love us and want us to be happy so anything that causes us not to be happy will make them resent that. Let’s vent here but not at home.
By the way….how many people today are following the Halacha brought down in the Mishna Berura concerning Rosh Chodesh Gelt? For generations past, every month on Rosh Chodesh a bissila gelt was given to the melamdim. Can you imagine how good they would feel if every Rosh Chodesh they got just $20 from each child??? ($20 per child x 28 children per class = $560 a month = $5,600 a year on the side for the Rebbi – What a GREAT way to show our appreciation…..)
Rochel
Brooklyn is a drop in the bucket of NEW YORK STATE. Ever see the huge private schools in Westchester, Syracuse, Nyack, Albany, etc. You think “too myopic”, there are tons of private & parochial school in NYS.
By the way….how many people today are following the Halacha brought down in the Mishna Berura concerning Rosh Chodesh Gelt? For generations past, every month on Rosh Chodesh a bissila gelt was given to the melamdim.
Everyone with kids in school gives Rosh Chodesh gelt. In the form of large tuition payments.
yosher;
no one is putting the tuition responsibility on the parents. but if the parents have a little extra, then just as they help with mortgages and sleep away camps, they should help with tuitions, if they could, before someone else in the community being required to pay higher tuitions because of other kids’ scholarships. if the grandparents cannot possibly help then that’s okay too – but the responsibility should be on them before other school parents.
I’m tired of the wrongheaded idea that community mosdos should be the sole responsibility of the parents currently benefiting from them. It has been accepted for many years now that a Jewish education is for everyone, and that providing mosdos of limud haTorah is, and should be, a communal endeavor. The corollary to this is that mosdos haTorah deserve support from the entire community, and should be a high priority on every person’s tzedakah list.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. Thre are a host of competing, exciting tzedokos, which, while often (but not always) quite worthy, should not be placed above supporting schools, but too often are. If people would allocate more of their tzedakah to mosdos haTorah, they, and the parents, would be in much better shape.
I ( like the rest of you ) get hit twice,
I pay so much for my kids (in tuition), and then I pay a big school tax for my neighbors goyish kids,
Could somebody explain to me why Jewish families that send to (jewish)private school still have to pay school tax,
I would argue, that if one could prove he pays tuition for private school – he should be exempt of paying school tax.
School tax is obligatory on all residents, including those who don’t use the schools at all, such as seniors. By law, municipalities are obligated to provide schools, which can be funded only through taxes. The reasoning behind paying twice is that if you wish, you may avail yourself of the public schools. The fact that you choose not to is your own problem, not the township’s.
I say, shuvu, arachim, lev leachim, kupat hair, bonei olam, camp extreme, etc etc etc, are great tzedakos but… are we fixing the world at the expense of our own yeshivos? a) aniyei ircha and b) chayecha kodmim.
Also, we live in a society that supports public education via property taxes, we should do the same amongst our own community. This would help solve two problems, 1) the finances 2) discrimination in enrollment.
Did someone say $60,000 for a Rebbi? Can you tell me which Yeshiva that is?