Colpa Says Court Action on State Aid to Private Schools Not Final Action

Proponents of state aid to private schools expressed regret today at the ruling yesterday by a three-man Federal District Court curtailing such aid in New York State until it decides whether the 1970 Mandated Services Act is constitutional. “We are naturally unhappy that there will now be a delay in the payment to yeshivos of critically needed funds,” said Marcel Weber, an attorney for the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs (COLPA)

“However,” he added, “we have every reason to believe that the court will vindicate the principle that parochial schools are entitled to be paid for what are essentially state-directed activities,” a reference to required testing and record-keeping. Noting that “the court’s (final) decision is expected well before June 15, which is the final date for payment under the law,” Weber stressed that yesterday’s ruling “is in no way to be construed as a decision reflecting on the merits of this case, as would a formal litigated preliminary injunction.”

COLPA represented two yeshivos–Rambam in Brooklyn and Bias Yaakov in Queens, in yesterday’s court hearing. Opponents of the aid were represented by the Committee for Public Education and Religious Liberty. At immediate issue is $14 million scheduled to go to private schools between April 15 and June 15. Since passage of the Mandated Services Act, $42 million has been channeled to private schools by the state.

Meanwhile, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Philadelphia has endorsed last week’s ruling by a three-judge federal court in the Pennsylvania capital banning state reimbursement to parents for private-school tuition. The JCRC stated that “we are convinced that private religiously sponsored schools can and must be financed by the community that they serve and not by government funds….While we are deeply committed to an effective system of Jewish education, we are also convinced that the well-being of the American Jewish community is inextricably linked with the principle of separation of church and state.”