Gift
of learning lasts ‘a lifetime’
By NADIA MARIA SMITH
CS&T Staff Writer
Thanks to the Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) more parents are
able to send their children to Catholic schools.
The program allows businesses to donate money to organizations such as
Business Leadership Organized for Catholic Schools (BLOCS) and get up
to a 90 percent tax credit.
That makes a real difference to schools such as Holy Innocents School
in the Hunting Park section of Philadelphia, where many students received
grants from the $15,650 donated to the school this year through BLOCS.
Among them is Scott Bui, 11, a sixth-grader who is also one of 15 students
from Pennsylvania taking part in the 2008 educational marketing campaign
by the REACH Foundation.
REACH, which stands for Road to Educational Achievement through Choice,
was founded in 1991 to ensure that parents have a choice when it comes
to their children’s education in Pennsylvania. The foundation serves
as a liaison between the EITC program and scholarship organizations seeking
the funding that EITC makes available, according to Stacy Henninger, director
of communications for REACH.
The foundation’s “Visions of Choice” campaign highlights
the importance of school choice and strives to put a human face on the
school choice movement by telling the success stories of several families.
In the Bui family, for example, Scott said he realizes how blessed he
is that his parents can send him to Catholic school.
“At public schools they don’t teach some of the things that
Catholic schools teach — for example, religion,” Scott said.
“My religion classes are teaching me to respect and help others.
My parents think that Catholic schools are the answer for me as I grow.”
Mary Rochford, assistant superintendent for elementary education services
in the Archdiocese, understands what he means. Rochford noted recently
at a media conference held by REACH, “Catholic education is a tremendous
gift in the life of a child.” In fact, she said, it is “a
gift that lasts a lifetime.”
CS&T staff writer Nadia Maria Smith can be reached at npozo@adphila.org
or (215) 965-4614.
To
subscribe now, click here.