The Indiana Catholic Conference, the statewide coordinating body for the five Roman Catholic Dioceses in Indiana, has reaffirmed its support for parental choice in education in a new policy statement issued in October 2006.

The statement, entitled "Educational Dilemma in Indiana – A Statement on Parental Choice in Education," outlines the importance of parent-centered education and the reasons why the Catholic Church in Indiana strongly supports proposals to provide parents – particularly lower- income families unable to afford private education – the ability to select the best schools possible.

“While Indiana legally upholds parents’ ‘right’ to choose elementary and secondary school setting, in practice, ordinary, hard working parents in Indiana have great difficulty exercising their primary right to choose educational opportunities for their children,” explains the report.

Copies of the report were provided to every Catholic school in the state to distribute to their parents. For more information, call (317) 236-1455 or visit http://www.indiana.nasccd.org

In an important show of support for parents desiring educational opportunities, two of the nation’s leading organizations of the Jewish and Catholic faiths recently issued a joint statement of support for school choices for parents. The document, adopted in October 2006 by Delegates of The Rabbinical Council of America/Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, emphasizes the value to families in the ability to choose public or private schools.

“[A]t this time in our nation’s history, ‘school choice’ is an issue of justice. For too many years, the United States has been aware that serious inequalities trap low-income children in schools whose infrastructures are crumbling and whose environment is dysfunctional.”

The Joint Statement committed the organizations to working in partnership to advance school choice programs for all of the nation’s families.

“We join together to call upon our elected and appointed officials to implement policies which will empower all parents to choose schools for their children which they believe best serve each child’s own, individual, educational needs.”

To read the statement, visit: http:// www.usccb.org/seia/schoolchoice.shtml

The Educational CHOICE Charitable Trust, a privately-funded scholarship program for private elementary education, provides tuition assistance to low-income students in the Indianapolis community.

The CHOICE Trust is making a difference in the lives of children and families in the Indianapolis community. The program, founded in 1991, has provided scholarship grants to students of lower- income families enabling them to attend private or parochial elementary schools of their choice. To date, CHOICE has funded more than 15,000 years of education to students attending a wide range of schools. Scholarships are worth one half of the child's tuition, up to $1,600 annually, depending on the number of years on the program. The family is responsible for the remaining tuition. In academic year 2005-2006, over $1.1 million in scholarship grants were awarded to approximately 1,200 students.

The Educational CHOICE Trust is a 501(c) (3) public charity, funded by individual, corporate, and foundation contributions. The program exists to provide new options in education for families of limited means. For more information, call (317) 951-8781 or visit http://www.choicetrust.org.