Cuomo To Push Backdoor Tax Voucher Plan For Private Schools, Will Tie Proposal To DREAM Act

Yesterday I wondered if Governor Cuomo was going to further look to undercut the New York public school system by pushing for a backdoor tax voucher plan, thus stealing more money from public schools and siphoning it off to charters and (now) private schools.

It turns out he will do just that:

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo on Wednesday will propose tying together two hot-button education initiatives that have split the left and right — creation of a state DREAM Act and an education tax credit, the Daily News has learned.

“The governor is including funding for the education tax credit and the DREAM Act in the same budget bill,” said a source with knowledge of the plan.

A Cuomo spokeswoman had no comment Tuesday.

Lumping the two issues into the same legislation means that lawmakers would either have to sign off on both or get neither.

The DREAM Act would provide state financial assistance to the college kids of undocumented immigrants and is backed by Democrats and the Hispanic community, and Timothy Cardinal Dolan and the state’s Catholic bishops.

But Senate Republicans have been opposed to the idea of spending taxpayer dollars on non-citizens.

This is the first time the governor is including the measure in his budget, something advocates have been pushing for.

The education tax credit is geared toward those who donate money to schools. The Senate GOP has been a big backer of the issue, which has been a top priority of Dolan and the bishops as well as private and parochial schools.

The teacher unions and many legislative Democrats vehemently oppose the tax credit, saying it serves as a type of voucher program that takes away needed money from public schools.

Conniving governor, this one.

You want your DREAM Act - then sign off on vouchers.

You want your vouchers - sign off on the DREAM Act.

We'll see if this works the way it did with the tax cap/rent control, which he also tied together if memory serves me.