MCC Legislative Activity for Non-Public Schools - Part IV

In the last three parts, I outlined what the Maryland Catholic Conference (MCC) intends to do and my view of our State Senator and Delegates.

So, I guess some of you are saying: What do you think we should do? So, here are my thoughts...

1. If you really think that lobbying them will make a difference, feel free to do so but you are wasting your time. However, I do think that meeting with those who have supported us in the past is a very good thing. It shows them that we remember who are friends are.

2. The MCC needs to make the it clear to every parent, every brother/sister (of voting age) and every grandparent of a child enrolled in Catholic school (elementary and high school): Madaleno, Sol Guiterrez and Waldreicher are not friends of Catholic schools. Voting for them means you are voting against any sort of tax relief for you or funding of any aspect of education in Catholic schools.

3. The MCC must remind all parishioners of all parishes, and especially those with a Catholic school, that many Catholic schools are not self-supporting. Tuition cannot cover all of the expenses. They cannot make it on their own without support from the local parish. Therefore, if you decide to vote to any of these politicians, you are voting against any relief of your Catholic school.

4. The MCC must remind these representatives that if they want our support on any issues, they need to start showing some support for our Catholic schools. And that does not mean throwing us some crumbs - a $500 tax credit here or there. That means supporting our agenda -- at least 75% of what we want. Without it, we will do everything we can to remind Catholics, in every single parish, that you are no friends of the Catholic faith and that they should think twice about voting for you.

5. Catholics need to start to vote against these guys and not just blindly flip the switch. To be quite honest, the Democratic Party of today is not the party of my father. It is a pro-abortion, pro-homosexual and an anti-Catholic party. (Actually, anti-conservative Christian.)

If that does not work, then I think that the MCC should begin to organize groups to protest them (legally -- no illegal activities) at ribbon cutting ceremonies, town hall meetings, etc.

I think it would be wonderful to have photos plastered in the Washington Post, NBC, etc. showing a couple of hundred uniformed Catholic school children with signs saying that politician X is no friend of children, that they don't care about us, etc.

I think it is time to start to take the gloves off as they say.


What do you think?

MCC Legislative Activity for Non-Public Schools Announcement - Part I

Recently, I received a notice from the Maryland Catholic Conference (MCC). It is abbreviated below:

Maryland Legislative Activity for
Non-Public Schools - November 2007

The Maryland general assembly will meet for the 2008 legislative session in January. With current state budget problems, funding programs for Catholic schools will be as difficult as ever to secure. We need your support to keep the following issues, identified by the Maryland Catholic Conference, in the forefront for our legislators to consider:

Textbook/Technology funding: currently funded at $4 million (approx. $22/student for St. John’s school) for fiscal year 2007-08. Ask legislators to restore a previous allocation of $6 million (approx. $30/student) or, at least, to maintain the current allocation for the 2008-09 school year.

Quality Teacher Incentive Tax Credit: This is a $1,500 state income tax credit currently available to public school teachers to offset cost of coursework needed to maintain or advance certification. Ask legislators to extend this benefit to non-public school teachers as a straightforward matter of equity.

BOAST Maryland Tax Credit (Building Opportunities for All Students and Teachers in Maryland): This program would provide state income tax credit to businesses that donate to programs that benefit all of Maryland’s students and teachers – public and private. A similar program in Pennsylvania has been very successful in providing funds for Catholic schools.

Senator: Richard S. Madaleno, Jr.

Delegates: Ana Sol Gutierrez and Jeff Waldreicher. One delegate position is open due to the death of Jane Lawton.

Now, it is great that they want to lobby these folks, but let's be real about these legislators: They are no friends of Catholic schools.

More about this in Part II