The New York Board of Rabbis said here today that Governor Nelson Rockefeller’s student incentive plan, as revised, did not violate the church-state separation provisions of the Constitution. The Board, which is an association of 750 Orthodox, Conservative and Reform rabbis in the New York area, had objected to the Governor’s original proposal on the grounds that it might be used to provide funds for sectarian colleges.
The original plan would have provided $200 in aid to every student paying more than $500 a year in tuition. The revised proposal provides $100 to $300, depending on need, to those students who meet academic tests and who pay more than $200 a year tuition. “The merit test, the means test and the awarding of the scholarship directly to the students on the high school level, remove this legislation from the area of church-state conflict,” the Board said.
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