New York – Turner Proposes Tax Credit For Families Who Send Children To Private Schools

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    New York – Congressman Bob Turner (NY-09) today introduced the Tax and Education Assistance for Children (TEACH) Act of 2012. The bill will provide a tax credit of up to 5,000 dollars for families who send their children to private schools and eliminate “double taxation” on parents who send their children to non-public schools.

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    “Today, I am introducing H.R. 4075, the Tax and Education Assistance for Children (TEACH) Act of 2012,” said Congressman Turner. “The TEACH Act will provide parents who send their children to non-public elementary and secondary schools a tax credit of up to $5,000 per year and effectively eliminate or minimize the effects of this ‘double taxation’.”

    Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) believes the bill will help parents provide a meaningful education for their children.

    “A tax credit for families paying for private schooling is not only fair, but long overdue,” said Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn). “Rising budgets were always a reality, but their impact during this economic downturn have been devastating. Private schools are suffering and parents are suffering. Regardless, parents should be allowed to provide the best and most meaningful education to their children—and to receive fair and appropriate relief from the government. I applaud Congressman Turner for recognizing how many parents will be aided by this bill and championing this important issue. This bill will benefit everyone.”

    Parents like Donna Cann, of Marine Park, Brooklyn believes the TEACH act will help parents like her provide their children with a specialized and faith based education.

    “This would be great for somebody like me,” said Mrs. Cann. “I pay a grammar school tuition and high school tuition. I also send my daughter to a private college. I wanted the religious aspect in my children’s education. I wanted them to get that sense of community, sense of family, and the sense of being part of something bigger than themselves. I did not want them just being a number in a very large public school. The smaller classes are geared to them. There are so many sacrifices I have to make to make sure their tuitions are taken care of. Congressman Turner’s bill would help me tremendously.”

    Local leaders who have supported similar efforts at the state level are thrilled that Turner is leading the charge at the Congressional level.

    State Senator Marty Golden stated, “As the sponsor of a legislative effort that saw the institution of a child tax credit for public, private and parochial school students in New York State, I commend Congressman Bob Turner for introducing this legislation. Like myself, Congressman Turner understands that the rising costs of education are taxing the budget of New York families. We must do something to help offset expenses so that our children have every opportunity to get the best education possible.”

    Parents aren’t the only ones who see the positives in this bill. School administrators also see the benefits a tax credit will provide for families.

    “As the Chairman of the Board, I deal with the tuition committee and I know how difficult the tuition payments are for some parents. I applaud Congressman Turner for realizing the need for parents sending their children to private schools to have a tax credit. This bill will be helpful to so many of our parents,” Larry Goldfarb, Chairman of the Board, Crown Heights Yeshivah of Mill Basin said.

    “The Diocese of Brooklyn is grateful for the legislation that Congressman Turner is supporting,” said Stefanie Gutierrez, spokesperson for the diocese. “We hope that our other representatives in Congress will also choose to support the TEACH Act and the many thousands of families that it will undoubtedly assist.”

    Administrators see the TEACH act as a bill that will help non-public schools increase their enrollment by making tuition more affordable while reducing class sizes and costs for public schools.

    There are more than 75 schools within the 9th New York District that Congressman Turner represents that would qualify as elementary or secondary schools under the bill.


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    11 Comments
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    kingizzy
    kingizzy
    12 years ago

    How awesome is that? What a wonderful idea. Thank you Bob! I hope this actually comes to fruition!

    12 years ago

    Lets go, Turner!
    We need this bill passed ASAP!

    pushkin
    pushkin
    12 years ago

    finally

    cynic
    cynic
    12 years ago

    This has been introduced into Congress bunches of times and never gets anywhere. It’s just a public relations tactic, folk. Nothing to see here.

    Yonason_Herschlag
    Yonason_Herschlag
    12 years ago

    Many folks are paying $5000 per kid, and have several kids in school. This bill as described in this article appears that the limit is $5000 deduction per family. That is little help for large families.

    DavidCohen
    DavidCohen
    12 years ago

    Nice idea, unlikely to happen though.

    But, even if it the bill pass, remember that this is a tax credit, which means up to $5000 off your tax bill, meaning that you need to be paying at least that much per year in taxes to receive the break. In other words, for many schools, most of their parent body would not see a tax break at all.

    leahle
    leahle
    12 years ago

    And I spend more than 20,000 for a Jewish education but totally disagree with this proposal. One of the key factors that have made this country great is the availability of public education. The are those (Santorum comes to mind) who want to destroy this system because educated people are more likely to think for themselves (and vote accordingly). We all must contribute to the public school system because it benefits us, even if our children are attending private schools. When we pay less in taxes, the general community suffers. There will either be reduced services, or we will pay for the credit through other fees/taxes/increased costs. I have chosen to opt out of the public school system knowing that I will still pay taxes and that is the way it should be.