Does Rep. Edolphus Towns support education tax credits or doesn’t he? That question has been floating around Brooklyn ever since Wednesday, when The New York Sun reported on a press conference held by Rep. Vito Fossella, the measure’s chief backer, to publicize his legislation, which would offer families a $4,500 credit to help offset the cost of a private education. As our article noted, two Democrats were listed as co-sponsors of the provision, one of whom was Mr. Towns. Yet a spokeswoman told us that the congressman had been listed in error. That error grows more puzzling by the day.

Something more than a mere computer glitch is at work. According to THOMAS, a Web site maintained by the Library of Congress to track federal legislation, Mr. Towns signed on as a co-sponsor to the bill on May 9. It some times happens that a congressman or senator is entered into the THOMAS system as a co-sponsor by mistake, although that is rare, a spokesman for the Library of Congress, Guy Lamolinara, tells us.

Nor does that appear to be the case here. Mr. Towns’s office now says this was the act of a rogue staffer. Co-sponsors are generally added at the staff level. A staffer in a congressman’s office will call a staffer in the office of the congressman who introduced the bill and ask that the caller’s boss be added to the list. Each office handles this process differently, but given the sheer volume of bills to consider, staffers often have latitude. Several House staffers for various congressmen tell us they can imagine a staffer occasionally might go so far as to list his boss as a co-sponsor without consulting the congressman.

Even then, the plot thickens. On May 23, two weeks after THOMAS says Mr. Towns joined as a co-sponsor, Mr. Towns’s signature appeared alongside Mr. Fossella’s on a “Dear Colleague” letter supporting the bill and sent to all 435 members of the House. At the least, this means that the “rogue staffer” in Mr. Towns’s office thought the congressman was certain to want to support a bill that would benefit middle class constituents in his Brooklyn district, and the staffer thought that for at least two weeks straight.

Silly him or her. As soon as we first raised the issue with Mr. Towns’s staff, the rush was on to distance the congressman from this legislation. His chief of staff, Val Henry, told us that “the congressman never went on as a co-sponsor” and that Mr. Towns’s signature was put on the “Dear Colleague” letter either by use of a signature stamp or copying by hand the congressman’s John Hancock on a document. Two things are for certain, Mr.Henry says: This was not discussed with the congressman, and the letter does not reflect the congressman’s position.

We hope Mr. Towns finds the alleged rogue staffer. He or she deserves a promotion. The letter, after all, expresses sentiments that a representative of Brooklyn should be proud to voice. “We have the opportunity to help the parents of religious and private school students by providing them a tax credit against tuition expenses. The credit would make it easier for parents to send their children to the school of their choice – and the one they believe will offer their sons and daughters the right education for them. [The bill] does not divert even one penny from our nation’s outstanding public school system. It solely lets families keep more of their own money to spend as they see fit.”

The letter goes on to point out that the proposed law would ease “the financial pressure on public schools by allowing a small portion of the population to attend a non-public school. Together, we can make education more affordable for all Americans and provide a quality education for our nation’s children.” Mr. Towns’s constituents certainly understand the benefits. Just this week, the leader of 1.8 million Roman Catholics in Brooklyn and Queens, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio, stood alongside Mr. Fossella to support the bill, which already has the backing of the archbishop of New York, Edward Cardinal Egan.

Where this leaves Brooklynites is with a congressman who is about to discipline the only staffer in his office who appears to understand what his constituents want. Mr. Towns cannot formally remove his name as a co-sponsor of this bill until Congress returns from the Memorial Day recess next week. That leaves him with this weekend to consider whether he really wants to go ahead and distance himself from a bill that would serve his constituents so well.