Originally posted by lpreima:
Maybe this money goes to the care and education of those children whose parents cannot afford to give their children the privilege of going to parochial schools or maybe this money goes to the care of the ones who have no parents as well.
I appreciate your concern for those who may be less fortunate.
But here is the scoop in other things:
The taxes for the local schools go to the local government (our city), excluding US Federal handouts.
Our local school system has some of the highest paid teachers in several counties, our city's tax rate is the highest in NE Ohio, and the performance of our local schools is dismal, next to Cleveland's. Nobody on my street sends their children to the public school here. Not even the mayor. They ALL go to parochial schools. My parents took my older brother out of the parochial schools back in the late 60s because the same school system (I live one street over from where I grew up as a child) was the best. Now its the opposite.
Don't assume that I am rich and that is why I am sending our child to a parochial school.
I even pay double because I wish to remain a Byzantine Catholic - even though the parish at the school was my wife's home parish. In all things, my friend, we sacrifice many things to give our child a good school. I won't sacrifice my religion for the sake of a cheaper tuition. However, the flip-side to reality, per the school's finance director, is that most Latin parents who register at the school's parish rarely , if ever, make up the difference in their weekly parish offerings. They drive their children in brand new Hummers, SUVs, and live in nicer homes than mine, but don't contribute.
They, like those less fortunate who maybe have no parents or lack funds, take advantage of the school by not contributing at all. Period. Even though their local parish is just across the street from their home, they register out of town because of the school.
For the amount of money that my city takes from me in taxes, I would be able to afford a better school than the one he's at now. But those high paid teachers, who have successfully lowered the local school's quality down to almost gutter-level, need the money more than I do. As they always tell us, "Its for the cheeeldren?"
Joe,
Unemployed taxpayer (that's right, the city still needs its money whether I am working or not).
BTW, my former coworker loved Brazil. He was always afraid of flying until he went to Brazil to work on a steel mill project. Over the past two years, he has mastered quite well the Portuguese language. He also has a few lady friends there. He goes back to Brazil for all his vacations these days. Another coworker, who is still in Brazil, is almost married. What do you folks put in your water?
But back to Athos and their monetary handout (now with strings attached) ...
I brought up the school system because there are several private schools and colleges that refuse to take Federal money. Once the Fed government gives you money, it has a right to meddle and dictate. Likewise, if the Athonite monks knew up front that there were strings attached, they probably would have let the buildings continue to rot.
