Councilman David G. Greenfield was joined by politicians, rabbis, private school leaders and Sam A. Sutton, Co-president of TEACH NYS, on the steps of City Hall recently to applaud the decision to exempt private and parochial schools from the MTA payroll tax. Prior to this agreement between Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, only public schools were exempt from the tax.
Simply put, this is an issue of fairness and equity. Its not right to hold private schools to a different standard than public schools. I applaud Governor Cuomo, Speaker Silver and Senate Majority Leader Skelos for addressing this double standard, which will help yeshivahs, and other private schools, continue to provide quality educations for our children. I am optimistic that this is the beginning of a turning of the corner in terms of equity for state aid to private schools, said Greenfield.
This common-sense agreement recognizes the important role private and parochial schools play in our neighborhoods. It wasnt fair to tax them at a higher rate than public schools, and I applaud the state for eliminating this tax burden for all schools, said Congressman Ulrich.
Since the MTA tax first went into effect two years ago, TEACH NYS has consistently advocated fairness for the non-public schools. NYS TEACH hopes this latest act of fairness demonstrates the willingness of state government to alleviate some of the strain on taxpaying parents who choose religious or other non-public educational options for their children, said Sutton.
Its nice to see the state recognizes what a critical role private schools play in the education system. The teachers, who nurture thousands of children, should be treated at least as well as their public school counterparts. This is a good first step in showing the non-public schools that they deserve the states support and respect, just as the public school teachers do, said Rabbi Besser.
The agreement was part of a comprehensive state plan aimed at creating jobs and growing the economy. This reduction in tax burden will save non-public schools an estimated $8 million annually throughout the region, benefiting 400,000 students, including 100,000 in Jewish day schools and yeshivahs. Depending on the size of the schools, they will save anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars per year.
