Rca Urges Tax Deductions for Tuition Parents Pay for Children Attending Religious Schools

Rabbi Louis Bernstein, president of the Rabbinical Council of America, today urged “the United States Congress to adopt legislation under which the Internal Revenue Service would give tax deductions for the tuition which parents pay for their children who attend religious schools.” In his address to 500 delegates attending the Council’s national conference, he observed “that the religious school system which comprises a substantial portion of the American educational system faces its greatest and worst financial crisis in history.”

Rabbi Bernstein stressed that without some form of assistance, the schools may collapse and disappear. Their disappearance, he warned, will be a loss not only to the religious communities involved, but to the whole educational system in this country. He noted “that the sorry state of the religious schools places the community in a great dilemma. On the one hand, we want to retain the separation between church and state and to lessen the interaction of each upon the other. On the other hand, we want to preserve these institutions and the privilege that parents have in selecting the schools which their children ought to attend.”

COMMUNITY MUST DEAL WITH PROBLEM

Granting deductions for tuition does not infringe upon the separation principle, for all of these schools are tax exempt and contributions to them are exempt from taxation, Rabbi Bernstein stated. “Our courts have held that contributions to religious institutions are completely tax exempt,” he said. “Why then, can we not exempt from taxation the sums which parents pay for their children’s education? The tuition which the parents pay for their children constitutes a contribution to the well being of the community. Their taxes are supporting the public school system. If these parents had sent their children to the public school, the community would have had to pay for their children’s education. Now, these parents are paying for their children’s education, Is not relieving them of the taxation on that money the least that we can do for them?”

The crises which the religious schools in this country are facing must be faced not only by the members of the religious community involved but by all segments of the community, Rabbi Bernstein said. He noted that many Catholic schools have already closed down because of financial difficulties. The continued existence of a good network of schools under religious auspices is important to the well being of our country, he stated. “We can ill afford to dispense with the moral teachings which they give our children and the general environment which they create in our community. We can ill afford the ever-increasing number of undereducated children and young adults being sent out into our adult community every year. The quality of education must be improved in all segments of our society, including the private sector,” Rabbi Bernstein declared.

The American Jewish community will honor Premier Golda Meir at a United Jewish Appeal dinner March 5, Paul Zuckerman, UJA general chairman announced today. The occasion will mark a tribute to the people of Israel and to Mrs. Meir on the occasion of Israel’s 25th anniversary. Leaders of all the Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds of the country, along with other major American Jewish organizations are being invited to join in this “national expression of respect and affection.” Zuckerman said.

Mrs. Meir will be making her first visit to the United States since Dec. 1971, when she addressed the UJA’s annual national conference. “In this 25th anniversary year, the solidarity of will and commitment of all American Jewry to the people of Israel is stronger than ever before in our mutual histories,” Zuckerman said.

An up-to-the-hour report from major communities on the progress of the 1973 UJA campaign will be received on the evening of the dinner. The 1973 UJA campaign, in which Mrs. Meir has expressed a continuing and vital concern, is being conducted under the urgent priorities of increasing immigration and on behalf of the humanitarian needs of Israel’s people.