The Archdiocese of New York’s school system faces a “big loss” because parents are struggling to meet tuition payments just as the state is proposing severe cuts, Edward Cardinal Egan warned yesterday.
“I hope and pray that people will give us a hand and not cut us further for the services we render,” the cardinal said during a press conference at City Hall with Mayor Bloomberg and other religious leaders on expanded financial-services counseling.
The mayor announced that the city plans to offer seminars to hundreds of religious leaders around the city so they can offer financial guidance and referrals to their congregants.
Egan said that Catholic schools have already “seen a very serious downturn” and that he’s worried that cuts proposed by Gov. Paterson for services mandated by the state will only make the situation worse.
“We’re going to be hurt and we’re going to fight and do our very best not to lose a single student,” Egan said.