Thursday, March 03, 2005 in New York Daily News
Lead Editorial
With the deadline fast approaching for the closure or reorganization of 26 Catholic schools in Brooklyn and Queens, New York business leader Tom Cusick has won a $1.2 million commitment of scholarship funds, provided he raises an additional $2.4 million in donations. That’s a start.
Cusick, a product of Brooklyn’s Catholic schools, stepped forward to drum up money after this page put out a call for someone to lead an effort to rescue these vital neighborhood resources. He scored a success in winning the generous assistance of the Children’s Scholarship Fund, a national financial aid organization. The fund has agreed to kick in a dollar for every two Cusick raises.
Providing tuition assistance is a key to securing the schools’ futures. Thousands of parents, mostly working poor, would send their children to Catholic schools if only they could afford the tuition of about $3,000 per student per year. While that’s modest by education standards, it’s enough to break many a family’s bank.
There’s no question that, with a little help, parents would enroll their kids. The scholarship fund, which makes awards by lottery, has 1,000 city children on its waiting list. And lacking funds, the Diocese of Brooklyn’s own Futures in Education Foundation has some 3,800 scholarship applicants on hold. Those kids alone would more than make up the minimum 250 students the diocese says each school must have to be viable.
While fund-raising is job one, principals and parents are scrambling to cut costs and promote their schools. Principal Rosina Katsoulis of St. Finbar’s in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, found interested students miles away in Sunset Park by advertising in Chinese-language newspapers – but the kids have no way to get there. St. Virgilius in Broad Channel, Queens, also believes it could draw children from outside the neighborhood if transportation were available.
Meanwhile, from the political world, Rep. Anthony Weiner, a mayoral hopeful who represents communities in both boroughs, is linking schools with experts to help find ways to cut costs, perhaps through cooperative buying.
While many parents fear that church officials are determined to close the schools, spokesman Frank DeRosa said the diocese will take all these efforts into consideration. To help, send checks to Children’s Scholarship Fund, Development Office, 8 W. 38th St., 9th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10018. Make checks out to Children’s Scholarship Fund but note on the checks that your money is to be earmarked for the kids of Brooklyn and Queens. Or donate on the Web site, www.scholarshipfund.org.