In an effort to drum up support for federal legislation that would give parents of students in parochial and private schools a $4,500 tax credit to help pay for tuition, Rep. Vito Fossella reached out yesterday to the leader of the Brooklyn Diocese.

Since introducing the legislation last month, Mr. Fossella, a Republican who represents Staten Island and a swath of Brooklyn, has been meeting with lawmakers and religious leaders across the country.

The archbishop of New York, Edward Cardinal Egan, has already thrown his support behind the bill, calling it “the greatest possible service to the young people of our nation.”

Yesterday, Mr. Fossella gained the backing of the leader of the Brooklyn Diocese, Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio. After a meeting at the St. Patrick’s Church in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, the pair called a sparsely attended press conference on the steps of the church.

“I want to see public schools improve, but at the same time there should be a choice for parents,” Mr. DiMarzio said.

Mr. Fossella also plans to reach out to other religious leaders and the heads of private schools in coming months.

Opponents of tax credits have called them “vouchers in sheep’s clothing” that will drain thousands of much-needed dollars from the public school system. Critics also raise concerns about blurring the line between church and state.

In Albany, Governor Pataki is also pushing a $500 state tuition tax credit for low- and middle-income parents of public and private schoolchildren in struggling school districts.

While a voucher is a payment from the government, a tax credit is a dollar-for-dollar reduction in an individual’s tax liability. For example, taxpayers that owe the government $10,000 would be required to pay just $5,500 in taxes if they take advantage of the credit.

The credit would not help poor families that do not pay taxes.

Mr. Fossella’s office calculated the $4,500 figure by surveying the average tuition at 70 parochial and private schools throughout Staten Island and Brooklyn.

Twenty-six co-sponsors have signed onto the bill including two Democrats – Edolphus Towns of Brooklyn, and Daniel Lipinski of Illinois – according to the Library of Congress Web site that tracks federal bills. Mr. Towns’s spokesman said last night that he had not in fact signed onto the bill.

Asked about the overall price tag, Mr. Fossella said that it would cost an estimated $2 billion, but an aide later retracted that estimate, saying the Congressional Budget Office hadn’t yet tabulated the cost and that the $2 billion figure was not reliable.

Catholic schools in New York and across the country have been closing their doors in recent years. More than 1,200 private and parochial schools in urban areas closed between 1999 and 2003.

In New York City, the archdioceses of New York and Brooklyn have closed several schools in the past few years and recently announced more closures for next year due to rising costs and dwindling enrollment.

The Republicans co-sponsors include Reps. Gresham Barrett of South Carolina, Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, Rob Bishop of Utah, Ginny Brown-Waite of Florida, Dan Burton of Indiana, Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, Tom Feeney of Florida, Virginia Foxx of North Carolina, Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Gil Gutknecht of Minnesota, Peter Hoekstra of Michigan, Sue Kelly of New York, Jeff Miller of Florida, Randy Neugebauer of Texas, C.L. Otter of Idaho, Ron Paul of Texas, Stevan Pearce of new Mexico, Joseph Pitts of Pennsylvania, John Shadegg of Arizona, Mark Souder of Indiana, Thomas Tancredo of Colorado, Todd Tiahrt of Kansas, Dave Weldon of Florida, Joe Wilson of South Carolina.