NYSun:

The budget also frees up state building aid for charter schools and authorizes nonprofit organizationIn what could be another sweeping change to the system, Mr. Pataki’s budget includes a $400 million education tax credit plan. Viewed as a version of school vouchers, the $500 a child tax credits would be granted to families with incomes of less than $90,000 that reside in low-performing school districts. The credits are to be used for tutoring, after-school programs, or for private school tuition.Many religious organizations welcomed the proposed credits.”Until now, needy parents in the state seeking to ensure that their children are educated in their religious tradition have struggled mightily under a double burden: They pay high taxes to support public schools that their children cannot attend, and they pay high tuition for their children to attend nonpublic schools,” an Orthodox Jewish organization, Agudath Israel of America, said in a statement issued yesterday. Education tax credit programs exist in about a half-dozen other states, according to the Foundation for Education Reform & Accountability.Opponents of the credits, including the United Federation of Teachers, say they would funnel money away from public schools.