The OU Advocacy Center is the non-partisan public policy arm of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. Our mission is to promote and protect the Jewish community’s interests and values in the public policy arena. Through our work, OU Advocacy supports and strengthens Judaism in the United States and contributes to the welfare of American, Israeli and global Jewish society.
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Dear Partners, Colleagues and Friends of OU Advocacy, The core mission of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center is to advance our community’s values and interests in the public policy arena by developing strategies and organizing action to achieve results no single community could achieve on its own. In 5775 (2014-15), we made more progress than ever. Working together with our school, shul and community partners, OU Advocacy brought millions of dollars in federal and state aid to our community’s institutions. In Washington, we again secured $13 million for homeland security grants to keep our sacred spaces safe; we are advancing legislation to create a new multi-million dollar grants program to aid our community institutions make their buildings energy efficient; and we helped enact legislation to provide families with children with disabilities with taxfree savings accounts to pay for their needs. OU Advocacy worked in Washington to support the State of Israel’s security, including being an active opponent of the Administration’s nuclear deal with Iran. In this effort, we were the only Orthodox Jewish organization to meet on this matter with President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary of State Kerry and many other top officials, not to mention mobilizing tens of thousands of grassroots emails and calls to Congress and a
rally of rabbis in Washington the day before the fateful vote on the deal in Congress. While we obviously fell short of the goal and the deal is being implemented, OU Advocacy— working across our community and with coalition partners—made a crucial record on this issue not only for history, but for how the Iranian issue will be addressed by the next president and Congress. OU Advocacy garnered new and increased support for Jewish day school affordability from state governments. As detailed in this report, working together with our local school and community partners, our advocacy yielded more than $196 million in funds and services for day schools in the states where we are active. In addition to securing resources for our community and defending Israel, OU Advocacy continued our work, in legislatures and courts, to guarantee the broadest legal protections for religious liberty in American society. 5775 was an important, impactful year for OU Advocacy. Just as we achieved results this past year working with you, we look forward to doing even more – for our schools, our shuls and for you – in the coming year. Sincerely,
Nathan J. Diament
1
2
FROM THE DIRECTOR OF STATE POLITICAL AFFAIRS Imagine a community where our children receive an excellent Jewish education—with a cutting-edge math and science curriculum, the newest classroom technology, subsidized nurses and textbooks, and quality security aid— at no extra cost to parents or schools. With your partnership this is a reality we can achieve. OU Advocacy is passionate about making Jewish life more sustainable and affordable. Right now, we are particularly focused on education. Non-public school students— including those at Jewish day schools and yeshivas—deserve the same state-funded services that public school students enjoy. OU Advocacy’s state teams are working closely with legislators to secure equal funding for our community’s schools. So far, we have made remarkable progress: Jewish day schools and yeshivas now have state funding for safety improvements, pre-K programs, full-time nursing, high-tech education, help for families of children with special needs, busing, and millions of dollars in scholarships. In 2015, state funding for these institutions totaled more than $196 million. We could not have achieved these accomplishments without you, our community members. We needed your advocacy, partnership, and support to make our legislators hear the voice of the Jewish community, appreciate the importance of Jewish education, and understand the
challenge of tuition affordability. In recognition of the critical role community members play, OU Advocacy’s state teams have expanded their efforts to engage you in our work. In New York, we organized four advocacy missions to Albany, 23 Schools in Session events, and campaigns to Get out the Vote, raise awareness about the Smart Schools Bond Act, increase security in our schools, improve access to New York City’s Universal Pre-K program, and pass the Education Tax Credit bill. In New Jersey, we launched Teach NJS, a new partnership between OU Advocacy, the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey, and 20 New Jersey Jewish day schools to engage the community in advocating for non-public education. In Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Florida, our teams have focused on the issues that you, our community members, identify as the most important: expanding and improving the educational tax credit program, increasing access to transportation for our students, and broadening school choice options. Thank you for working with us to transform the quality and affordability of Jewish education. As we move into 2015-16, we look forward to achieving even greater successes together. Sincerely, Maury Litwack
3
Community advocacy mission participants meet with NY Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul
SECURING SUPPORT FOR JEWISH DAY SCHOOLS & YESHIVAS OU Advocacy is at the forefront of obtaining government funding for Jewish day schools and yeshivas. Our work delivers millions of federal and state dollars to our community’s schools, helping schools with their security hardware and personnel, nursing, high-tech education, pre-K programs, help for families with children with special needs, transportation, and millions of dollars in scholarships.
U.S. Congress
In 2015, OU Advocacy worked with Congressional allies to draft key provisions of the Student Success Act, which will improve the federal government’s programs aiding day school and other non-public school students.
New York State & City Our advocacy work expanded this year from Albany to also include New York City Hall and helped
secure approximately $163.8 million for Jewish day schools and yeshivas. This year, we focused on: • The Smart Schools Bond Act, helping schools upgrade their technology. • CAP and MSR, two state initiatives for non-public schools, which help schools comply with state requirements for attendance, testing, immunizations and other services.
• The Education Tax Credit, which proposed $150 million in education tax credits and scholarships annually. Albany turned down the bill, but approved a $250 million infusion into CAP and MSR in its place—of which, we estimate $90 million will go to Jewish day schools and yeshivas. • Universal Pre-K in New York City, where we are continuing to fight City Hall to modify the program’s
4
Community advocacy mission to Albany meets Assembly Member Phil Goldfeder
OU CEO Allen Fagin and OU Advocacy’s Nathan Diament and Miriam Harmer with U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ)
regulations to allow for greater participation from the Jewish day school and yeshiva community in the full-day program and expand the seats in the half-day program—in order to make the program truly universal. • School Safety in New York City, where we are spearheading support for a bill that will provide security guards for non-public schools. Maximizing Government Funding
This year, we expanded our role in
consulting with Jewish day schools and yeshivas to ensure they utilize all government funding available to them. Through detailed and comprehensive funding guidance, we identified an average of $10,000 in additional government funding for 10 schools in the Greater New York City area. We also engaged more than 40 schools on issue-specific funding. As a result of our work, the Title I allocation for non-public schools will increase by nearly $11 million. These new dollars mean that more non-public school students can receive instructional services in math and reading and teachers can continue to participate in professional development.
New Jersey
OU Advocacy-NJ secured $7.5 million in state funding for Jewish day schools and yeshivas for the 2015-16 school year. This year, we focused on: • The Secure Schools for All Children Act, which—for the first time in more than 20 years— created a new line of funding for
5
Teach NJS mission to Trenton meets Assembly Member Valerie Vainieri Huttle
New Jersey’s non-public schools that they can use for security services and equipment. • Funding for nursing, so schools can hire full-time nurses and provide the appropriate level of care for their students. • Technology funding, so schools can offer students state-of-theart instruction and access to the latest equipment. • Funding for secular textbooks.
Pennsylvania
and create even more scholarship opportunities for students. These two programs create millions of dollars in scholarships for our Jewish day schools and yeshivas. • School safety, through an amendment that OU Advocacy proposed and helped pass, which broadened the eligibility criteria and enabled non-public schools to participate in Pennsylvania’s school safety program. We are continuing to work on expanding this program to enable greater participation by nonpublic schools.
Through our advocacy work, we estimate that Jewish day schools and yeshivas will receive $12 million dollars in state funding. This year we focused on:
Maryland
• Expanding and improving Pennsylvania’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit program and the Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit program, so more businesses can join the program
• Providing transportation for non-public school students in Montgomery County, through a pilot busing program. While the County Council decided to fund only a consultant position for
OU Advocacy-MD secured $1.2 million in state funding for Jewish day schools and yeshivas. This year, we focused on:
this coming school year, we are committed to working with the County Executive, County Council and other partners to identify and consider all transportation options and possibilities for our day school and yeshiva community. • Pre-Kindergarten Education, by working with state legislators to ensure that faith-based schools and middle-class families are included in the state’s PreKindergarten Expansion Act and helping schools apply for this important funding stream.
Florida
Our partnership with the Jewish Leadership Coalition focuses on expanding the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship program, which allows hundreds of middle-income Jewish families to receive scholarships to Jewish day schools and yeshivas. OU Advocacy helped secure $11 million in state funding for Jewish day schools and yeshivas.
6
STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY SECURITY
OU CEO Allen Fagin speaking at the NYC Rally for School Safety
As anti-Semitism increases around the globe, OU Advocacy advocates continuously to enhance and strengthen the safety and security of our community.
U.S. Congress
In 2005, OU Advocacy spearheaded the creation of the Department of Homeland Security’s Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP), in partnership with the Jewish Federations of North America. Every year, we work to ensure the program remains funded. In 2015, Jewish schools and synagogues nationwide will receive $13 million through this program to help keep their buildings safe, for a total of more than $120 million overall since the program began. We are presently working to boost the funding of this program to $25 million for 2016.
In the States
Our state teams have been instrumental in obtaining state funding for measures that help our
day schools and yeshivas provide a safe environment for their students. New York We advocated for non-public schools to be included in New York State’s Safe Act, allowing them to be reimbursed for any safety equipment they purchase, and every year we work to ensure that program remains funded. In New York City, we are supporting Intro 65, a bill in the City Council that will provide security guards for non-public schools and ensure a safe learning environment for all students in New York City. Through our advocacy, support in the City Council for the bill rose from 12 to 46 co-sponsors (out of 51 City Council members). We are continuing to work on passing this bill in the City Council. New Jersey When Assemblyman Gary Schaer and State Senator James Beach introduced the Secure Schools for All Children Act, we mobilized the community to support the measure.
Through our outreach campaign, New Jersey community members sent more than 5,000 letters to state legislators and Governor Christie, urging them to support the security bill. The approval of the Secure Schools for All Children Act, which provides funding to non-public schools for security services and equipment, marks the first new funding line available to New Jersey’s non-public schools in more than 20 years. Pennsylvania OU Advocacy proposed and helped pass an amendment that enabled non-public schools to participate in Pennsylvania’s School Safety program. Through the Safe Schools Targeted Grant for a School Police Officer, Jewish day schools and yeshivas can now apply directly to the state for a safety officer, significantly improving their access to security resources and funding. We are working to expand this program in order to enable greater participation by non-public schools.
7
OPPOSING THE IRAN NUCLEAR DEAL
Rabbi Efrem Goldberg addresses the Rabbis Rally Against a Nuclear Iran
8
OU Advocacy’s Nathan Diament joins other Jewish leaders at a White House meeting with President Obama on the Iran nuclear deal.
Throughout the course of U.S. negotiations with Iran, OU Advocacy, together with our coalition partners, lobbied for a “good deal” with Iran, based on five key elements: anytime/anywhere inspections, phased sanctions relief, a complete report on Iran’s past nuclear activities, dismantling Iran’s nuclear weapons infrastructure, and a duration for the deal that never allows Iran to become a nuclear state. In this effort, OU Advocacy leaders met with President Obama,Vice President
Biden, Secretary of State Kerry, Secretary of Energy Moniz and a host of other senior Administration officials to voice our community’s grave concerns over a deal with Iran. During the 60-day Congressional review period, OU Advocacy mobilized tens of thousands of OU constituents and partners to urge their Members of Congress and Senators to reject the bad nuclear deal with Iran. In addition, we brought hundreds of rabbis from across the
country to Washington, D.C., to call on Congress to reject the deal. We also organized meetings with legislators in their districts during the Congressional review period to discuss our concerns about the nuclear deal. These meetings ranged from small delegations of synagogue and community leaders in the legislators’ offices to large community forums attended by hundreds of community members.
Community leaders meet with (left) U.S. Rep. Kathleen Rice (D-NY) and (right) U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) about the Iran nuclear deal
9
ADDITIONAL FEDERAL ADVOCACY
Defending Israel OU Advocacy works to bolster the security and welfare of the State of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. OU leaders regularly engage with President Obama, senior Administration officials and our allies in Congress to support policies in favor of Israel. In the U.S. Supreme Court case of Zivotofsky v. Kerry, the OU urged the Court to uphold the 2002 law passed by the U.S. Congress, which ordered the State Department to allow U.S. citizens born in Jerusalem to record on their passports that Israel is their place of birth.
Fighting for Religious Liberty OU Advocacy fights for personal and institutional religious freedom in American law and policy, because we believe that the religious freedom the Jewish community enjoys in the United States cannot be taken for granted. We work on these issues with our allies in Congress as well as by filing amicus curiae briefs or “friend of the Court� briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court. This year, we worked to protect the rights of prison inmates to have kosher food and be permitted to grow beards, according to their beliefs.
We also fought for the right of all job applicants to keep their religious observance private during the hiring process.
Supporting Schools & Shuls through Energy Efficiency Following the model of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program, OU Advocacy developed legislation to help nonprofits make their buildings more energy efficient and stem the tide of their ever-rising energy costs. We are working with U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-
10
MN) and John Hoeven (R-ND) and U.S. Representatives Bob Dold (R-IL) and Matt Cartwright (D-PA) to pass this legislation and deliver $50 million in energy efficiency grants to community institutions.
Helping Families with Members with Disabilities OU Advocacy, together with Yachad, the National Jewish Council for Disabilities (also an agency of the OU) actively workedxs to promote and pass the Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) Act. The ABLE Act allows individuals with
disabilities or families of children with disabilities to create tax-free savings accounts that can be used for expenses such as medical, transportation, education, housing, and employment services. Even more importantly, the ABLE Act allows individuals with disabilities to have full-time employment and still qualify for Medicaid and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
institutions, OU Advocacy actively works to protect the tax deductibility for charitable contributions in the face of proposals to reduce them. In his 2016 budget, President Obama proposed reducing the tax deduction for contributions to charity. OU Advocacy actively opposed this budget proposal and are working with our allies in Congress and across the nonprofit sector to prevent it from being enacted.
Protecting Charitable Deductions With financial donations as the lifeblood of our communal
11
Rabbis Rally Against a Nuclear Iran on Capitol Hill
ENGAGING
THE COMMUNITY To us, the population of our schools and shuls is more than just a number or a statistic – it is also a voice. In addition to our policy work, we engage Jewish communities throughout the United States to educate them about how important federal and state issues can affect them personally.
(Left) U.S. Senator James Lankford (R-OK) and Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S. Ron Dermer (right) address the Leadership Mission.
12
Washington Leadership Mission to Washington
Opening the Rabbis Rally against a Nuclear Iran
In June, OU Advocacy brought 120 national and congregational leaders to Washington to advocate on Capitol Hill with U.S. Senators and Representatives and key White House leadership. The focus of the advocacy mission included: ensuring that any deal with the Iranian regime would be a good deal; restoring the funding for the Nonprofit Security Grant Program to its original allocation of $25 million; promoting the proposed Nonprofit Energy Efficiency Act; and advancing Israel’s security. Rabbis Rally against a Nuclear-Armed Iran
U.S. Senator Rob Portman (R-OH) receives an award of recognition during the Leadership Mission
NY delegates meet with U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) during the Leadership Mission
In September, the OU, together with the Rabbinical Council of America, brought hundreds of rabbis, synagogue and community leaders from across the country to Capitol Hill to call on Congress to reject the bad deal that paves a pathway to a nuclear-armed Iran. Held the day after Congress returned from its August recess—and just one week before Rosh Hashanah—the rally was reminiscent of the historic Rabbis’ March in 1943—just days before Yom Kippur—in support of American and allied action to stop the destruction of European Jewry.
White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough addresses the Leadership Mission
13
Teen mission to Albany meets NY State Senators Martin Golden and Simcha Felder
New York This past year, OU Advocacy deepened its effort to create longterm investment in our advocacy activities.
School Security bill before the New York City Council. We also brought a large delegation of day school and yeshiva students and parents to a rally at City Hall in support of the bill.
We organized: • A Get Out the Vote campaign focused on the benefits of New York’s Smart Schools Bond Act. • A letter writing campaign— promoted through online advertising (see left)—for schools and parents to contact Mayor de Blasio urging him to expand the Universal Pre-K program to accommodate the needs of Jewish day schools. • Four advocacy missions to Albany, each focusing on the Education Tax Credit bill. Our missions included a delegation of high school students from the Yeshiva of Flatbush and Nazareth Regional High School (a Catholic school); a delegation of individuals and students with special needs; and community delegations of parents and students from Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, as well as Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester, Rockland and Albany. • A broad interfaith coalition of organizations to support Intro 65, the
Make UPK Truly Universal We organized a major media campaign in both Jewish and secular media outlets to raise awareness that the regulations imposed by City Hall on the Universal Pre-K program precluded many Jewish day schools and yeshivas from participating in the program. Through media outreach, ad buys and social media, we called on Mayor de Blasio to “Make UPK Truly Universal” and modify the program’s regulations to allow for greater participation from the Jewish day school and yeshiva community in the full-day and halfday programs. We believe that all of New York City’s 4-year-olds deserve to participate in New York City’s Universal Pre-K program. Education Tax Credit OU Advocacy’s top legislative priority in New York this year was
14
the passage of the Education Tax Credit in Albany. By providing tax credits in return for corporate donations to both public schools and not-for-profit scholarship granting organizations, the Education Tax Credit would have provided true transformative funding to New York’s tuition-paying families. OU Advocacy engaged the community
in advocacy efforts to urge our state legislators to pass the bill. Each of our four advocacy missions to Albany focused on the benefits the bill would provide the non-public school community. We formed a coalition with the UJA-Federation of New York and Agudath Israel to support the bill. And through our action alerts, New Yorkers sent
thousands of letters to legislators in Albany. While Albany turned down the Education Tax Credit bill, the advocacy efforts of our coalition led to state legislators approving a $250 million infusion into CAP and MSR in its place. Of this, we estimate $90 million will go to Jewish day schools and yeshivas.
Community advocacy mission participants meet with NY State Senator Jeff Klein
Yachad mission participants meet with NY State Senator Simcha Felder
OU CEO Allen Fagin addresses a joint press conference with Agudath Israel and UJA Federation of New York, organized by OU Advocacy
15
Schools in Session: Engaging Parents and Legislators in Jewish Education Building upon the momentum from the advocacy missions to Albany, OU Advocacy launched this year’s Schools in Session program in May and expanded the initiative
to include both State and City legislators and issues. During each Schools in Session event, legislators tour a school, discuss education affordability legislation
with administrators and parents, and meet students. This year, we coordinated 23 Schools in Session events, covering every borough of New York City and Long Island.
(Clockwise from top left:) State Senator Martin Golden at Magen David Yeshivah in Brooklyn, State Senator Jack Martins at North Shore Hebrew Academy in Long Island, Assembly Member Marcos Crespo at SAR Academy in the Bronx, and City Council Member Rory Lancman at Yeshiva of Central Queens
16
More than 300 community members attended the launch of Teach NJS
New Jersey In May, OU Advocacy, together with 20 New Jersey Jewish day schools and yeshivas, the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, and the Jewish Federation in the Heart of New Jersey, launched Teach NJS, a new initiative to mobilize the New Jersey Jewish community to become more politically engaged, in order to influence and change the way the state of New Jersey funds non-public education. More than 300 members of the local Jewish community attended the launch of Teach NJS. Shortly after the launch of the new initiative, Teach NJS brought community members to Trenton to advocate for funding bills that would support New Jersey’s day schools and yeshivas, and also joined together with other organizations to advocate for the Secure Schools for All Children Act.
Community advocacy mission to Trenton for the school security bill
17
Pennsylvania OU Advocacy focused on engaging the community in the issue of improving and expanding Pennsylvania’s educational tax credit programs. Through our action alerts, our community sent hundreds of letters to state legislators urging them to improve the EITC and OSTC programs. In addition, we conducted a Get Out the Vote campaign to increase voter registration prior to elections and voter turnout on Election Day. OU Advocacy-MD Legislative Breakfast
County Executive Ike Leggett addresses the OU Advocacy-MD Legislative Breakfast
Florida In March, we helped lead the third annual advocacy mission to Tallahassee. The 45-person delegation of community leaders from throughout South Florida met with the Governor and members of the Senate and House leadership to discuss the importance of the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program to all families in Florida, particularly the Jewish day school and yeshiva community.
Maryland Following our call to the community to support the pilot busing program, more than 150 people from the Jewish community attended the Montgomery County Council public hearing and 10 Jewish community members, including two high school students, testified in support of the program. Through our action alerts, more than 700 community members contacted their County Council Members to advocate for a transportation program for nonpublic school students. In June, more than 250 community members attended our second annual legislative breakfast, where we hosted both state and county legislators.
South Florida Advocacy Mission to Tallahassee
18
IN THE MEDIA OU Advocacy takes an active role in media outreach. Through our statements, press conferences and community events, we generated media coverage in top-tier Jewish and secular press, including CNN,
The Jewish Week, The Washington Post and the New York Times, and published op-eds and letters to the editor in both Jewish and secular media outlets, including the The Jerusalem Post, Roll Call,
The Washington Post and the New York Post. For a complete list of our press releases, articles and op-eds, please visit the Newsroom section of our web site, www. OUadvocacy.org.
White House brings lawmakers into Situation Room on Iran By Deirdre Walsh and Kevin Bohn, CNN Washington (CNN) Part of the aggressive outreach to convince Democrats to support the deal with Iran included a briefing Thursday for 15 American Jewish members of the House of Representatives in the Situation Room at the White House. The meeting was the latest in a series of briefings for these members at the White House. "People felt that the Administration is intent on very seriously addressing the concerns of the Jewish members, which many of them centered around Israel and the security of Israel," Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Illinois) said after the session. Schakowsky told reporters she believed there were enough Democrats supporting the deal to help the White House overcome Republican opposition to the agreement. "I haven't heard anyone say 'oh I learned something that has made it impossible for me now to sustain a presidential veto,'" Schakowsky said. Rep. Steve Israel (D-New York) told reporters on Capitol Hill he was still undecided and planned to take the full 60 days allowed for Congress to review the deal to make up his mind on it. The New York congressman, a member of the Democratic leadership, said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi's endorsement of the deal was "very influential -- there's no question. Leader Pelosi is the most influential member of our caucus." On the back-to-back presentations from Vice President Joe Biden and Hillary Clinton to House Democrats, Israel said "that's a pretty damn good one two punch." New York Democratic Rep Jerry Nadler told CNN he remains undecided on the agreement, but he said the meeting with Rhodes helped provide additional information as he reviews the details. Nadler said one Democrat expressed concerns in the session about the future capability, in roughly 15 years, for Iran to potentially develop a nuclear weapon. Rhodes pointed to restrictions in several areas of deal that would expose any efforts to do this and provide penalties. Asked about a pledge by the Administration to provide weapons to Israel to address concerns about a military threat from Iran, Schakowsky said there was no detailed briefing on any arms, but "the assurances were that the United States was definitely prepared to assure the security of Israel and do what was necessary to make that happen."
When Universal Pre-K Is Not Universal Thu, 02/12/2015 Allen Fagin Special To The Jewish Week
“We will offer every child, from every borough of this city, truly universal, full-day PreK.” That was Mayor Bill de Blasio’s promise to the children of New York City one year ago in his inaugural State of the City address. The Mayor's pledge of a free pre-K program available to every four-year-old in New York City — regardless of background, religion, or socio-economic status — signaled an exciting and visionary approach to early childhood education for all New York preschoolers. Unfortunately, this signature education program that promised universality — not just in the nature of the program but in its very name — has fallen far short of the commitments the mayor made one year ago. Let’s recall that last year Mayor de Blasio was granted $300 million from New York State to implement his universal pre-K program. With such resources, and in light of the Mayor’s stated desire for universal participation, we anticipated that all 4-year-olds in the Orthodox community — together with all other eligible children in New York — would have a place in UPK. You can imagine our surprise when the City’s regulations for the full-day pre-K program included a mandatory 6-hour and 20-minute period of uninterrupted secular education — a full hour and 20 minutes more than the regulations set by New York State law. It is nearly impossible for Jewish day schools and yeshivas to provide secular education for this period of time and still have time to provide appropriate levels of privately-funded religious instruction — not to mention the need to close early in time for Shabbat on a Friday. Remember, this is pre-K and these children are 4 years old. A seven- or eighthour day for a four-year-old simply doesn’t work. Because of these requirements, that are unique to New York City, only 11 percent of New York City’s children of eligible pre-K age enrolled in Jewish day schools and
› jewish geograpY photo: Ap
jg
Mayor de Blasio’s UPK program is a step forward, but needs to mature with age
QUALIFYING FOR UPK: WILL DE BLASIO ACCOMODATE ORTHODOX JEWISH SCHOOLS? BY SARINA TRANGLE | FEB 19, 2015 |
UPK Far From Universal Eytan Kobre
A Yeshiva school bus in New York City. (Bonnie Natko)
Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration on Wednesday outlined how it is seeking to make universal pre-kindergarten more inclusive, but one Orthodox Jewish group called the plan “cosmetic” and contends that it does not accommodate Jewish schools. Deputy Mayor Richard Buery, who is charged with overseeing the city's universal pre-K expansion, wrote in a memo published on JPUpdates.com that the city Department of Education has made a number of changes it believes will make the program a more viable option for more families and providers. Next fall, pre-K providers would be able to count secular instruction on any day of the week and federal holidays toward the mandatory weekly total of 31 hours and 40 minutes, Buery wrote. Providers would also be permitted to take short breaks for prayer or other purposes, which would be excluded from the secular education hour-count.
“We don’t want the percentage of yeshivah students enrolled going from 11% to 12%, we want it going to 50%” —Maury Litwack
30 M I S h pAC h A
A
centerpiece of Bill de Blasio’s successful 2013 campaign for New York City mayor was his plan to bring to the Big Apple state-funded preschool classes to help ensure four-year-olds’ readiness for kindergarten, a program known nationwide as Universal Pre-K (UPK). Although Mr. de Blasio invited yeshivos to apply for the $7,500-per-child grants, some in the city’s Orthodox Jewish community are now claiming the program isn’t nearly as inclusive as the word “universal” in its name might indicate. In the just-ended first year of the program, for which New York State is providing $300 million in funding, only 1,000 yeshivah kids, or 11% of the overall yeshivah student population, were enrolled. But after many months of lobbying by the frum community, Mr. de Blasio recently announced changes that he said would make UPK programs much more broadly accessible to religious Jewish youngsters. Among the changes are: permission for a short break in the school day that could be used for the children to daven and bentsh; a change in the classroom hours requirement from a daily one of just over six hours to a weekly one of about 30.5
hours; and a change that will allow schools to count classroom time on Sundays and federal holidays toward the required number of hours. A City Hall official who declined to be identified acknowledged that the program “works better for some yeshivos than others, but due to these changes it can work for many more schools than it did last year, especially since many of them already have school on Sundays and they won’t even need to extend their school week. UPK has only been operational for one year, so we need to give it time, but this is definitely a step forward.” The recent changes were intended to address the problem of how to comply with the UPK requirements without burdening four-yearolds with an overly long school day and without compromising on the Torah character of their schooling. But some advocates for yeshivos are concerned that the changes don’t go far enough, or, some would even say, very far at all. The Orthodox Union has been particularly outspoken on the issue, with Maury Litwack, the OU’s director of state political affairs, calling the recent changes merely “cosmetic.” Litwack says Sunday school time was already permitted in last year’s program, but didn’t help
increase enrollment beyond a paltry 11% of eligible yeshivah kids. Nor, he says, will permitting a break in the school day for religious activities have much impact, it would just extend what, at six hours and 20 minutes, is an already impossibly long day for four-year-olds. “Mayor de Blasio campaigned in our community on this issue, promising that UPK would include everyone, yet it doesn’t. We don’t want the percentage of yeshivah students enrolled going from 11% to 12%, we want it going to 50%.” Although Agudath Israel of America’s executive vice president, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel, calls the changes made thus far “meaningful, albeit incremental,” he and Mr. Litwack agree that the best way to make UPK work for the yeshivah community would be for the city to offer a half-day option, as well as reduce the number of classroom hours req'uired to five per day, or 25 per week, in line with state requirements. Rabbi Zwiebel says that in a December 2014 letter to him, Deputy Mayor Richard Buery did, in fact, promise to add more half-day seats, and now, he’s “disappointed” that Buery appears to be backing away from that commitment. “A full-day program won’t be for everyone,” says Rabbi Zwiebel, “so it’s important that the half-day option happens, and we’ll continue to push for that.” As for the option of reducing the required instructional day to five hours, he says, the de Blasio administration has cited studies showing that the ideal pre-kindergarten school day is just over six hours. “But we explained that when you add in the limudei kodesh component, our kids will indeed end up being in school for that amount of time.” For his part, the OU’s Litwack says the reason he cares so much about this issue is that “the tuition burden is such a big problem in the frum community and here’s a chance to get heavily subsidized help for young parents just starting out. It’s a question of basic fairness, and we’ll continue to fight on it.”
13 Adar 5775 | March 4, 2015
MI
19
FINANCIALS
OUR ADVOCACY EFFORTS HELPED BRING MORE THAN $209.2 MILLION IN FEDERAL AND STATE FUNDING TO JEWISH DAY SCHOOLS AND SYNAGOGUES.
NEW YORK
$163.8 MILLION
MSR: $40.8 million CAP and CAP repayment: $27.2 Additional infusion for CAP/MSR: $90 million Title I Services: $4 million School safety: $1.8M
Comprehensive Attendance Policy (CAP)/Mandated Services Reimbursement (MSR) These two state initiatives provide funding for non-public schools that comply with state requirements for attendance, testing, immunizations and other services. This year, the New York State legislature increased the funding for both programs and also infused an additional $250 million into CAP and MSR payments—the largest amount ever allocated to this program. Title 1 Services Title 1 Services provides funding for students with educational needs to receive small group tutoring for reading and math and also provides professional development for educators. School Safety The School Safety program allows non-public schools to be reimbursed for any safety/security equipment they purchase.
CONGRESS $13 MILLION
Nonprofit security grants: $13 million
Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) Spearheaded by the OU in partnership with the Jewish Federations of North America, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Security Grants program helps nonprofits improve the safety and security of their buildings.
20
PENNSYLVANIA $12 MILLION*
*An estimated figure based on the proposed state budget, since the state budget was not yet passed at time of printing.
EITC/OSTC programs: $10 million School safety: $120,000 Transportation: $775,000 Special Needs: $850,000 Textbooks and other instructional materials: $257,500
EITC and OSTC programs The Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit (OSTC) programs provide millions of dollars each year in scholarships for low- and middle-income families across Pennsylvania. Safe School Legislation Pennsylvania Jewish day schools can receive up to $40,000 per school to hire security guards through the Safe Schools Targeted Grant for a School Police Officer. Transportation If a school district provides transportation for its public school students, it must also provide transportation services to non-public school students of the same grade level. Special Education Needs State residents enrolled in grades K-12 at eligible non-public schools may receive auxiliary services, including reading and math remediation, speech and language evaluations and therapy, and counseling. Textbooks Pennsylvania appropriates funds for the purchase and loan of textbooks, instructional materials and equipment to eligible state resident students in grades K-12 who are attending non-public schools.
FLORIDA $11.7 MILLION
Expanded school choice program: $11.7 million
Expanded School Choice Program Florida’s expanded school choice program provides scholarships to more than 2,000 students attending Jewish day schools.
21
NEW JERSEY $7.5 MILLION
Nursing aid: $3.4 million Technology aid: $1million Textbook aid: $2.1 million Security aid: $1 million
Nursing Aid New Jersey’s nursing aid enables non-public schools to employ full-time nurses, so that students with serious health conditions can receive the appropriate level of care necessary for their well-being. It can also be used for nurses’ salaries, healthcare items and equipment. Technology Aid New Jersey’s technology aid helps non-public schools provide their students with state-of-the-art instruction and access to the latest equipment, both critical for learning and getting the tools for success. These funds can be used for computers, iPads, SMART Boards, hardware, and software. Textbooks In helping schools provide basic needs for their students, New Jersey provides funding to non-public schools for secular textbooks.
MARYLAND $1.2 MILLION
Busing: $460,600 Textbooks & Technology: $477,960 Aging Schools Program: $140,000 Expanded Pre-K: $112,000
Busing Montgomery County allocated funding for the pilot busing program for non-public school students. Textbooks & Technology Maryland allocates funding for secular textbooks and technology at non-public schools where tuition does not exceed the statewide average cost per pupil. Public Aging Schools Grant Program Non-public schools can receive funding from this grant to repair their aging building’s physical structures. Expanded Pre-K Non-public schools are eligible to apply for funding through Maryland’s Expanded Pre-K program.
22
STAFF AND LEADERSHIP NATIONAL LEADERSHIP Martin Nachimson President, Orthodox Union Allen Fagin Executive Vice President, Orthodox Union Yehuda Neuberger Chairman, OU Advocacy Center
OU ADVOCACY NATIONAL COMMITTEE Ira Balsam Moishe Bane Harvey Blitz Howard Friedman Jon Gellis Elliot Holtz Allan Jacob David Luchins Matthew Maryles Samuel Moed Avi Schick Sam Sutton Gary Torgow Shira Yoshor
23
PROFESSIONAL STAFF Nathan Diament Executive Director
Maury Litwack
Director of State Political Affairs
Miriam Harmer
Director of Congressional Affairs
Jake Adler
Director of Policy, New York
Josh Pruzansky
Regional Director, New Jersey
Aaron Troodler
Regional Director, Pennsylvania
Dana Sicherman
Roslyn Singer
Director of Communications
Arielle Frankston-Morris
Director of Field Operations, New York
Ariella Noveck
Field Director, North Jersey
Karen Barall
Regional Director, Maryland
Director of External Relations
Yosef Kanofsky
Director of Government Programs
Daniella Lazar
Field Director, Central & South Jersey
Melissa Katz Administrator
24
CONTACT US WASHINGTON, D.C. 202-513-6484 info@ouadvocacy.org
NEW YORK
212-613-8123 ny@ouadvocacy.org
NEW JERSEY 201-836-3691 nj@ouadvocacy.org
PENNSYLVANIA 215-832-0736 pa@ouadvocacy.org
MARYLAND
202-513-6484 md@ouadvocacy.org
FLORIDA
fl@ouadvocacy.org
25
Join OU Advocacy’s network to help your schools and synagogues. Get involved at www.OUadvocacy.org. Friend us. Follow us. Take action. Support the work of OU Advocacy. OUadvocacy @OUadvocacy
26