Cardinal Dolan joins advocates at Harlem school to highlight program’s impact
Students, parents, and educators joined Cardinal Timothy Dolan at Our Lady of Lourdes School in Harlem on Thursday, October 16, to raise awareness about the new federal school choice tax credit, a program that promises to reshape how families access educational opportunities, including Catholic education.
Principal Suzanne Kaszynski welcomed the morning’s guests, which included Cardinal Dolan, Sister Mary Grace Walsh, ASCJ, Ph.D., superintendent of schools for the Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of New York, and board members of the school choice advocacy organization, Invest in Education Foundation. After Cardinal Dolan led the group in prayer, fourth-grade students from Our Lady of Lourdes treated the guests to two hymns, one in English and one in Spanish.
“After years of hard work and building an incredible coalition of supporters, many of those here in the room today, such as the University’s Scholarship Fund, Children’s Scholarship Fund, Teach Coalition, the Archdiocese of New York, the Dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Centre, and many others, we made history this summer when President Trump signed the first national school choice provisions into federal law,” said Anthony de Nicola, chairman of the Invest in Education Foundation.
How the program works
The new federal tax credit, which goes into effect on January 1, 2027, helps families access the education that works best for their children. Funding comes from donors who give to nonprofit scholarship organizations and get a dollar-for-dollar tax credit (up to $1,700). Those donations fund scholarships that families can use for tuition, tutoring, special needs services, or education technology. Each state must opt-in to the program. New York Governor Kathy Hochul has not yet indicated if the state will participate or not.
This initiative is funded entirely by private donations, not taxpayer money, and will generate billions of dollars to help millions of students attend schools their parents choose, whether that is for extra support, different learning approaches, or whatever fits their child’s needs.
“The historic federal school tax credit law is a transformative opportunity for those we serve and for those we hope to serve in the future. We look forward here in New York to collaborating with our amazing Inner-City Scholarship Fund in the months and years ahead to provide access to families who might otherwise have no choice,” Sister Mary Grace said in her remarks.
“For the first time, the federal government has corrected a long-term injustice to our parents, kids, and community by finally allowing tax credits for those who support our magnificent schools. Generous people who have long wanted to strengthen and expand our acclaimed Catholic schools, as well as other non-government schools, can now contribute even more to very respected organizations such as the Children’s Scholarship Fund and our own Inner-City Scholarship Fund and receive a tax credit for their generous donations, so there should be more donors,” Cardinal Dolan told the audience.
In an interview following the event, de Nicola focused on the local impact that the new tax credit can have. “The foundation’s job is to create awareness in local communities and dioceses statewide about the impact of the new federal school choice provisions and how they can benefit families and communities like right here at Our Lady of Lourdes. It’s really about raising awareness that this will be available to those families,” he said.