advocacy annual report 2014
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5774 (2013-14)TRANSCRIPT
Ann
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IMPACTOU ADVOCACY
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.
Letter from
Executive Director1
Results by the Numbers2
Letter from Director
of State Political Affairs3
Washington4-9
New York10-13
Relationship Building14-15
New Jersey16-18
Pennsylvania19-21
Maryland22-23
Florida 24-25
In the Media26-27
State and Federal Funding28-30
Staff and Leadership31-32
IMPA
CT
OU Advocacy
Dear Partners, Colleagues and Friends of OU Advocacy,
The year 5774 (2013-14) was a period in which the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center made a profound impact on our community by effectively advocating our interests and values in the public policy arena.
As we enter the new year and reflect upon our work of the past year, we are proud of an arm of the Orthodox Union whose mission is summed as “advocacy – for schools, for shuls, for you.”
Over the past year, OU Advocacy’s work resulted in millions of federal and state dollars for our community’s synagogues and schools. On the national level, OU Advocacy secured a new round of $12 million for homeland security grants to nonprofit organiza-tions—most of which will go to day schools and shuls in 2014. Our state advocacy work is also impressively impactful. As detailed in this report, OU Advocacy efforts have yielded more than $108 million in funds and services in the states where we are active. In addition to securing financial resources for the community, OU Advocacy promotes our community interests in other policy realms. Foremost in the domestic arena, we are vigi-lant defenders of the greatest amount of protection for religious liberty. At the top of our efforts as well, of course, is advocating for the security and welfare of the State of Israel.
OU Advocacy gives voice to our community’s values through the general and Jewish media as well. We brought the Torah perspective to the pages of The New York Times and Washington Post, NPR’s airwaves and countless other outlets—all in the service of our agenda.
5774 was an important, impactful year for OU Advocacy. We look forward to doing even more for our synagogues, schools and constituents in the coming year.
Best wishes for a New Year filled with success and prosperity.
Sincerely,
Nathan J. Diament
FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Letter from
Executive Director1
Results by the Numbers2
Letter from Director
of State Political Affairs3
Washington4-9
New York10-13
Relationship Building14-15
New Jersey16-18
Pennsylvania19-21
Maryland22-23
Florida 24-25
In the Media26-27
State and Federal Funding28-30
Staff and Leadership31-32
Over the last two years, OU Advocacy has helped bring an additional $92.5 million in government funding
to Jewish day schools and synagogues.
MILLIONin New York
$53MILLION
in Congress
$22
MILLIONin Florida
$3.2
MILLIONin Pennsylvania
BUSINGin Maryland
$9.3
MILLIONin New Jersey
$5
RESULTS BY THE
NUMBERS
IMPA
CT
OU Advocacy
Dear Friends,
As OU Advocacy’s state efforts continue to grow, every year becomes a banner year for our communities.
OU Advocacy is at the forefront of securing government funding for Jewish day schools. Our state teams are passionate about working with our legislators, voicing the needs of the community, and identifying creative means to help our schools. Their passion is reflected in the success they bring to bear for our communities: for the 2014-15 school year, our advocacy efforts led to more than $108 million in state funds and services.
More than just a dollar figure, $108 million has real impact in our schools and communi-ties. Through our advocacy, Jewish day schools have funding for safety improvements, pre-K programs, full-time nursing, high-tech education, help for families with children with special needs, busing, and millions of dollars in scholarships.
Just as important as our legislative work, though, is our community engagement. All of our accomplishments this year were made possible through your support—our commu-nity networks. The groundswell of activity in our states underscored to our legislators that we are an active community that cares about Jewish education and the state resources that support non-public schools. And we have a voice. In each of our states, our com-munity networks participated in candidate forums, meetings with elected officials, and advocacy missions to statehouses—all to express the importance of day school educa-tion and the priorities of the Jewish community to our legislators.
Thank you for being our partner and working with us to benefit our community. As we move into 2014-15, we look forward to working together with you to achieve even greater success.
Sincerely,
Maury Litwack
FROM THE DIRECTOR OF STATE POLITICAL AFFAIRS
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IMPACTON WASHINGTON
JEWISH DAY SCHOOLS For more than two decades, we have been leading federal policy initiatives to help Jewish day schools and Jewish families.
In 2014, we advanced several initiatives in Congress to address day school affordability, including:
♦ Making federal education funds under the Elementary & Secondary Education Act (ESEA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) “portable” through scholarships.
♦ Creating new sources of funding for our schools, such as our energy efficiency initiative.
THROUGH OUR ADVOCACY, Jewish schools and synagogues across the country receive federal funds to keep their students and members safe.
OU Advocacy is the preeminent voice of the Orthodox Jewish community in the nation’s capital.
We regularly engage with the President and senior Administration officials, U.S. Senators and Representatives, and all others who shape national policy to promote the interests and values of the Jewish community.
FEDERAL POLICY: DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN
NATHAN DIAMENT SPEAKING AT A PRESS CONFERENCE ON CAPITOL HILL
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COMMUNITY SECURITYAs anti-Semitism increases around the globe, we work to ensure the safety and security of our commu-nity. OU Advocacy spearheaded the creation of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NSGP) eight years ago, in partnership with the Jewish Federations of North America. The program helps schools and synagogues keep their buildings safe through grants from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Every year, we work to ensure the program is funded. In 2014, Jewish schools and synagogues nationwide will receive $12 million through this program, for a total of more than $110 million overall since the program began.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTYThe OU has long been at the forefront of fighting 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.
RFRA & Hobby LobbyMore than a decade ago, we helped lead the effort to create the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) to protect individuals’ religious freedom. Since then, we continue to support it in the courts—culminating most recently in the Supreme Court’s decision in the “Hobby Lobby” case.
EEOCReligious accommodation in the workplace is vital to the Jewish community and to all peo-ple of faith. In March, we supported the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) new workplace guidelines, which per-mit employees to dress and groom according to their religious practices.
ENERGY EFFICIENCYOU Advocacy consistently looks for new ways to deliver support to our day schools and syn-agogues. Following the model of the NSGP,
OU Advocacy developed legisla-tion to help nonprofits—such as synagogues and day schools—make their buildings more energy efficient and stem the tide of their ever-rising energy costs. Intro-
duced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and John Hoeven (R-ND), the Nonprofit Energy Efficiency Act (S.717) will provide matching grants—of up to $250,000—for nonprofits to make energy efficiency renovations to their
NATHAN DIAMENT TESTIFYING BEFORE THE U.S. SENATE
OU PRESIDENT MARTIN NACHIMSON, OU CEO ALLEN FAGIN AND OU ADVOCACY’S NATHAN DIAMENT WITH U.S. SENATOR BEN CARDIN (D-MD)
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IMPACTON WASHINGTON
buildings. We have forged a coalition of nonprofit organizations to support the bill and recruited more Senators as co-sponsors. We are working to secure a vote on S.717 this year.
CHARITABLE TAX DEDUCTIONWith financial donations as the lifeblood of our communal institu-tions, OU Advocacy actively works to protect the tax deductibility for charitable contributions in the face of proposals to reduce them.
In his 2015 budget, President Obama once again proposed that higher earning taxpayers have their tax deduction for contributions to charities reduced. We actively opposed this budget proposal and are working with our allies in Congress and across the nonprofit sector to prevent it from being enacted.
IN THE COURTS In addition to working in the legislative arena, we also defend our interests via the courts. OU Advocacy regularly joins with other national Jewish organizations and organizations of other faiths to file amicus curiae briefs or “friend of the Court” briefs to express our opinion about issues that affect the Jewish community.
This year, OU Advocacy joined amicus curiae briefs in these important cases:
♦ Hobby Lobby: We urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of religious business owners who asserted that a provision of the Affordable Care Act requiring employer-sponsored health
OU CEO ALLEN FAGIN JOINS OTHER JEWISH LEADERS AT A WHITE HOUSE MEETING WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA AND ISRAELI PRESIDENT SHIMON PERES
ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU
ADDRESSES THE OU
insurance plans to provide contraceptive and other women’s health services violated their religious beliefs. Because the government could provide women these health services through alternative channels, we argued that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act required it to do so, and not infringe on the religious concerns of the business owners.
♦ Freedom From Religion Foundation v. Lew: We defended the constitutionality of the federal tax code’s “parsonage” allowance for clergy in federal court. The parsonage allowance is a critical element in the budgeting and finances of many religious entities including synagogues and day schools.
♦ U.S. v. Florida: We contested Florida’s assertion that it may avoid providing kosher food in its prisons to religiously observant inmates on the grounds that providing kosher meals to anyone who requests them makes the program too expensive.
♦ Zivotofsky v. Kerry: We argued that an American citizen who was born in Jerusalem may identify his place of birth as “Israel,” rather than “Jerusalem, Israel,” on his/her passport and Consular Report of Birth Abroad.
ISRAEL OU Advocacy defends the security and welfare of the State of Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people and promotes the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s undivided capital.
OU leaders regularly engage with President Obama, senior Administration officials and our allies in Congress to support policies in favor of Israel. In June and July, OU leaders participated in high-level advocacy meetings, including a meeting at The White House with President Barack Obama and Israel’s President Shimon Peres and many meetings with key Congressional leaders.
Over the course of Operation Protective Edge, we mobilized OU members via action alerts, through which thousands of letters and emails were sent to Member of Congress and Sena-tors urging them to support Israel’s right to
OU ADVOCACY AT THE WHITE HOUSE WITH PRESIDENT OBAMA
OU CEO ALLEN FAGIN, OU PRESIDENT MARTIN NACHIMSON, AND OU ADVOCACY’S NATHAN DIAMENT WITH U.S. SENATOR TED CRUZ (R-TX)
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defend itself. We also worked closely with U.S. Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Ted Deutch (D-FL) to secure passage of a resolution condemning Hamas’ use of human shields.
IRAN SANCTIONSWe believe that a nuclear Iran would cre-ate an existential threat to Israel and destabilize the entire Middle East region. We support the efforts of Congress and the Administration to enact sanctions to curtail and ultimately eliminate Iran’s nuclear program. OU Advocacy actively supported a bipartisan group of Senators’ legislation calling for tougher sanctions on Iran, and bringing the legislation swiftly to the Senate floor for a vote.
IRAQI JEWISH ARCHIVEThe Iraqi Jewish Archive is a trove of Jewish holy books and communal documents rescued during the U.S.-led ousting of Saddam Hussein that details 2,600 years of a Jewish Iraqi history. Originally sent to Washington, D.C. for restoration, the Archive was scheduled to be returned to Iraq in June 2014. OU Advocacy worked with our allies in Congress and senior State Department officials to extend the stay of the archives in the United States.
OU CEO ALLEN FAGIN JOINED FELLOW JEWISH LEADERS MEETING WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY TO DISCUSS THE RESURGENCE OF ANTI-SEMITISM IN EUROPE
ON WASHINGTONIMPACT
OU ADVOCACY WITH FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
In addition to our policy work, we engage Jewish communities throughout the United States to educate them about how important federal issues can affect them personally.
RABBINICAL ADVOCACY NETWORKOU Advocacy helps our pulpit rabbis engage in advocacy on behalf of their communities and we recently launched the National Rabbinical Advocacy Network. OU Advocacy brought rabbinic leaders to Washington to engage in high-level meetings with Senators, Representatives and members of the Administration. The initial members of the group include rabbis from major Orthodox synagogues in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Florida, South Carolina and Ohio.
COMMUNITY MEETINGS An educated community is a community that under-stands the positions of elected officials and candidates running for office. OU Advocacy convenes meetings between community members and their U.S. Rep-resentatives and Senators to discuss key items on OU Advocacy’s agenda. One such meeting was held between U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and leaders of the Cleveland Orthodox Jewish community.
OU ADVOCACY mobilized the community to send thousands of letters and emails to our legislators urging them to support Israel’s right to defend itself.
OU ADVOCACY COMMUNITY FORUM WITH U.S. SENATOR SHERROD BROWN (D-OH)
OU ADVOCACY’S RABBINIC ADVISORY NETWORK WITH U.S. SENATOR TIM SCOTT (R-SC)
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IMPACTNEW YORK
THROUGH OUR ADVOCACY, Jewish day schools have funding for safety improve-ments, universal pre-K programs, help for families with children with special needs, and schools’ bottom lines.
With the largest Jewish day school population in the country, New York State boasts 350 schools and 130,000 students. And the efforts of OU Advocacy-Teach NYS (OU Advocacy’s New York team) are felt by all of them.
Our advocacy to ensure that non-public schools are included in every education-related state legislation led to $83 million in state funding for Jewish day schools for the 2014-15 school year, or nearly double the amount schools received in 2012, when OU Advocacy first merged with Teach NYS and began our important work. This unprecedented amount of funding will help New York Jewish day schools:
♦ Upgrade their safety/security equipment
♦ Modernize their high-tech instruction and systems
♦ Participate in the state’s universal pre- kindergarten (UPK) program
♦ Maximize their financial payments by complying with the state’s mandated service programs required for private schools
In addition, through our work with state legislators in Albany, OU Advocacy-Teach NYS helped shepherd sweeping changes within the New York City Department of Education (DOE) for families with children with special needs. For too long, New York City parents of children with special needs suffered needlessly through endless litigation, financial uncertainty and educational instability because of the DOE’s long-standing practice of challenging private school placements for children with special needs.
FUNDING FOR JEWISH DAY SCHOOLS
JEFF LEB LEADS MANHATTAN/BRONX/WESTCHESTER MISSION TO ALBANY MEETING WITH STATE SENATE CO-LEADER JEFF KLEIN
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
To us, the largest Jewish day school population is more than just a number or a statistic – it is also a voice.
This past year, our work with the New York day school community led to a groundswell of activity that helped educate our state legislators about the importance of day school education and the priorities of the Jewish community.
SCHOOLS IN SESSION INITIATIVE Through our lobbying work, we realized that we needed to bridge the gap between state legislators and the Jewish community in order to truly illustrate to legislators the value of Jewish education and why tuition affordability is such a challenge.
FIVE TOWNS ADVOCACY MISSION TO ALBANY MEETS LT. GOV. ROBERT DUFFY
OU ADVOCACY-TEACH NYS UPK PRESS CONFERENCE AT CITY HALL
The changes at the DOE, announced by New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in June, will provide much-needed stability to parents. The DOE will now ensure timely decisions about placement, provide regularly-scheduled tuition payments, reduce paperwork for parents and eliminate its annual challenge of a private school placement as long as a child’s Individualized Education Plan doesn’t change.
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In response, we developed “Schools in Session: Engaging Parents and Legislators in Jewish Education,” an initiative that brings together Jewish day school parents and leaders with their elected officials. At each Schools in Session meeting, New York State Assembly Members and Senators visit and tour a school in his/her district, meet with parents and school leaders as well as students. The opportunity for both the legislator and community members to discuss the importance of Jewish day school education, tuition affordability and other important issues is essential to building strong relationships.
In its first year, the Schools in Session program brought 22 state legislators to day schools and yeshivos throughout New York.
COMMUNITY ADVOCACY MISSIONSAt the height of the New York State budget negotiations in March, OU Advocacy brought nearly 200 com-munity members and students from the Five Towns, Brooklyn, Manhat-tan, Riverdale and Westchester to Albany to advocate for critical funding bills in the budget that would benefit non-public schools and Jewish day schools.
“ THROUGH OU ADVOCACY-TEACH NYS, our students learned that advocacy is something that’s put into action day in and day out. The mission to Albany was a powerful lesson for our students on being an American citizen.”
Rabbi Seth Linfield, Executive Director, Yeshiva of Flatbush
BROOKLYN ADVOCACY MISSION TO ALBANY MEETS STATE ASSEMBLY SPEAKER SHELDON SILVER
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For some, the funding was about fairness. For others, the funding would help them make ends meet. But for everyone who came to Albany representing their day school or their community, the opportunity to express to legislators why the funding bills were so important—on both a personal and community level—was a significant lesson in how advocacy has impact.
In addition to the missions, we also conducted an email advocacy campaign, through which thousands of New Yorkers urged their state legislators to support the funding bills.
SPECIAL NEEDS MISSION In June, we partnered with Yachad, the National Council on Jewish Disabilities (NJCD), to bring a delegation of students with special needs and their parents to Albany to advocate for the Special Education legislation that was before the State Legislature. Our advocacy work, and the work of our partners, led to the major policy changes at the New York City Department of Education announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (detailed above).
COMMUNITY MEETINGSAn educated community is a community that understands the positions of elected officials and candidates running for office. To that end, we convened leadership forums for the Jewish community to meet their candidates and learn about their views. In October, we hosted Nassau County Executive candidates Tom Suozzi and Ed Mangano who each presented their visions for the county. Follow-ing the election, we hosted Speaker of the New York City Council Melissa Mark-Viverito who spoke about her efforts to work with the Jewish community.
BROOKLYN ADVOCACY MISSION AT THE STATE HOUSE IN ALBANY
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RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
SCHOOLS IN SESSION: ENGAGING PARENTS AND LEGISLATORS IN JEWISH EDUCATION
IMPACT
In its first year, we arranged 22 state legislator visits to Jewish day schools and yeshivos throughout New York, including:
Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz (1)
SAR Academy, Riverdale
Senator Liz Krueger (2)
The Ramaz School, Manhattan
Senator Joseph Addabbo, Jr. (3)
Bnos Malka Academy, Queens
Assembly Member Walter Mosley (4)
Luria Academy, Brooklyn
Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal
Manhattan Day School
Assembly Member Joseph Morelle Majority Leader
Hillel Community Day School, Rochester
Assembly Member Patricia Fahy
Maimonides Hebrew Day School, Albany
Assembly Member Raymond Walter
Kadimah School, Buffalo
1 2 3 4
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Assembly Member Amy Paulin (5)
Solomon Schechter School of Westchester
Assembly Member Edward Ra (6)
The Schechter School of Long Island – Upper School
Senator George Latimer (7)
Westchester Day School, Mamaroneck
Assembly Member Karim Camara (8)
Yeshivah of Flatbush
Assembly Member Peter Abbate, Jr. (9)
Barkai Yeshivah, Brooklyn
Senator John Flanagan
The Schechter School of Long Island – Lower School
Senator John Bonacic
Hebrew Day School of Sullivan & Ulster Counties,
Kiamesha Lake
Senator Bill Perkins
Solomon Schechter School of Manhattan
Assembly Member Matthew Titone
Rabbi Jacob Joseph School and
Jewish Foundation School, Staten Island
Assembly Member Sean Ryan
Kadimah School, Buffalo and
Chai Hebrew School, Brooklyn
Senator Timothy Kennedy
Jewish Heritage Day School, Amherst and
Kadima School, Buffalo
5 6 7 8
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IMPACTNEW JERSEY
THROUGH OUR ADVOCACY, Jewish day schools can provide critical state-of-the-art technology and instruction to students and some can—for the first time—employ full-time nurses.
New Jersey’s Jewish day school population includes 145 schools and yeshivos and approximately 35,000 students. OU Advocacy-New Jersey’s work to secure state funding for all of these schools—and ensure that non-public schools are included in education-related state legislation—has had a significant impact on New Jersey Jewish families. Through our advocacy, $6.6 million in state fund-ing was allocated to Jewish day schools for the 2014-15 school year or double the amount schools received in 2011, when our New Jersey office opened.
This funding will enable New Jersey Jewish day schools to:
♦ Employ full-time nurses and provide the appropriate level of care for their students
♦ Offer students state-of-the-art instruc-tion and equipment, including computers, SMART Boards, hardware and software
♦ Provide students with secular textbooks through the state
In addition to our legislative advocacy, we also worked with Jewish day schools to ensure that they received the full amount of state funding available to them. When we discovered that dozens of schools missed the deadline to file their annual reports—a requirement from the state to receive funding for the upcoming year—we worked with the NJ Department of Education to reopen the filing window for those schools. We then reached out to each of those schools to alert them about the extension and helped them file their applications by the extended deadline. Through our help, these schools will receive $800,000 in state funding for textbooks, technology and nursing aid that they otherwise might have lost.
FUNDING FOR JEWISH DAY SCHOOLS
JOSH PRUZANSKY LEADS BERGEN COUNTY MISSION TO TRENTON MEETING WITH ASSEMBLY MEMBER VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
In New Jersey, our community outreach and engagement plays an equal role as our lobbying work in our goal to attain state funding for Jewish day schools. This past year, we offered the community several opportunities to meet with legislators, learn about their positions and express the needs of the Jewish community.
LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST WITH GOVERNOR CHRISTIEIn October, nearly 600 Jewish community members attended our second annual legislative breakfast. Delivering the keynote address, Governor Chris Christie spoke about the moral obligation to provide educational choice to students throughout the state. More than 30 legislators and other elected officials also attended the breakfast.
CANDIDATE FORUMS & COMMUNITY MEETINGSWe believe that the community must understand the positions of its elected officials and candidates in order to make educated choices at the ballot box. To that end, we convened multiple candidate forums for the Jewish community prior to the elections, including a debate between District 18 State Senate candidates Assemblyman Peter Barnes (D-18) and East Brunswick Mayor David Stahl, and parlor-style meetings with District 38 State Senate candidates Senator Robert Gordon and Fernando Alonso.
We organized Meet-and-Greet events for state legislators to visit Jewish day schools in their districts, interact with students, meet parents and school leaders, and talk about the importance of Jewish education. To date, we brought
♦ Assemblywoman Annette Quijano to the Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth
♦ Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt to the Politz Day School in Cherry Hill
♦ Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop to the Rabbi Pesach Raymon Yeshiva in Edison, where he attended elementary school
We also arranged round table discussions for parents with legislators, including Assembly Majority Leader Louis Greenwald and Assembly Budget Chair Gary Schaer.
GOV. CHRIS CHRISTIE ADDRESSING OU ADVOCACY-NJ’S LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST
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LAY LEADER ADVOCACY NETWORK Beyond understanding our legislators’ positions, we feel that community members must also be a voice for the larger Jewish community. We launched a training program to educate community mem-bers about the legislative process and help them build relationships with assigned legislators. These community members became an active statewide network versed in education affordability goals and strategies.
COMMUNITY ADVOCACY MISSIONS OU Advocacy-NJ brought delegations from throughout New Jersey on a series of community missions to Trenton to urge legislators to support the bills that would provide nursing, technology and textbook
aid to Jewish day schools. Delegates representing Bergen County, Cherry Hill, Edison, Highland Park, East Brunswick, Elizabeth and Hillside took advantage of the opportunity to express why this funding is so important to the Jewish community. For many of our delegates, this funding was simply a matter of fairness.
Following the in-person missions, we conducted an email advocacy campaign urging Gov. Christie to approve the increased funding for non-public schools. Through our collaboration with schools and synagogues, hundreds of New Jersey residents contacted the governor about this important issue.
“ THE LEGISLATURE’S APPROVAL of the in-creased technology and nursing aid for non-public schools really demonstrated how my voice and the voice of the Jewish day school community can influence our legislators.”
Rena Klein, Edison, NJ
EDISON-HIGHLAND PARK-EAST BRUNSWICK MISSION TO TRENTONMEETS STATE SENATOR PETER BARNES
OU ADVOCACY-NJ LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST
IMPACTPENNSYLVANIA
By protecting the Commonwealth’s tax credit programs from ex-pected budget cuts and orchestrating the Safe School Legisla-tion’s passing, our advocacy led to $10.8 million in state funding for Pennsylvania Jewish day schools for the 2014-15 school year.
This funding will enable Pennsylvania Jewish day schools to:
♦ Provide millions of dollars in scholarships for low- and middle-income families across the Commonwealth
♦ Hire security guards and significantly improve school security through the School Police Officer Grant
We worked with Pennsylvania legislators to propose and pass an amendment to the School Police Officer Grant to include non-public schools. While non-public schools were included in the School Resource Officer Grant last year, they were required to apply through their municipality, which prevented many of them from being able to participate. Through the amendment to the School Police Officer Grant—which passed in July—Jewish day schools can now apply directly to the state for an officer, significantly improving their access to security resources and funding.
THROUGH OUR ADVOCACY, Jewish day schools can hire security guards for students and provide millions of dollars in tuition scholarships.
Pennsylvania’s Jewish day school population includes 20 schools and approximately 2,500 students. In the two years since our Pennsylvania office opened, OU Advocacy-PA’s work to maintain and increase state fund-ing for Jewish day schools has had a significant impact on Pennsylvania Jewish families.
FUNDING FOR JEWISH DAY SCHOOLS
KOSLOFF TORAH ACADEMY STUDENTS AT OU ADVOCACY-PA’S MISSION TO HARRISBURG
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Growing our community network and engaging the community are key elements to reaching our legislative goals for Jewish day schools.
This past year, OU Advocacy focused on saving Pennsylvania’s educational tax credit programs from budget cuts and on passing the amendment for the Safe School legislation. The Educational Improvement Tax Credit program (EITC) and Opportunity Scholarship Tax Credit pro-gram (OSTC) are key funding streams for many Pennsylva-nia Jewish day schools.
COMMUNITY ADVOCACY MISSION Three weeks before Pennsylvania’s budget was signed at the end of June, OU Advocacy brought 300 members of Pennsylvania’s Jewish community, including 200 high school students from Kohelet Yeshivah High School and Kosloff Torah Academy, to Harrisburg to advocate for the Commonwealth’s tax credit programs and the security legislation.
For everyone who came to Harrisburg—whether a parent, an educator or a student—the opportunity to express to legislators how important the tax credit programs and security legislation are to our Jew-ish day schools was significant. For some schools, the EITC and OSTC programs are a lifeline, provid-ing scholarships to as much as 40 percent of their student body. And the security legislation would enable schools to provide a safe environment for their students.
Representing Jewish communities from throughout the state, the full delegation included a wide cross-section of Pennsylvania’s Jewish day schools.
EITC CHECK PRESENTATION TO THE SILVER ACADEMY IN HARRISBURG
“ WE ARE extremely appreciative to the OU for organizing the advocacy day and enabling us to express to our legislators how important the EITC and OSTC programs are for our school. These programs have a tremendous impact on our entire school community.”
Rabbi Yaakov Deutscher Executive Director of Kosloff Torah Academy
GOVERNOR TOM CORBETT AT OU ADVOCACY-PA’S LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST
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After Gov. Corbett signed the budget, we conducted an email advocacy campaign through which hundreds of emails were sent to state legislators thanking them for supporting the tax credit programs and the school safety legislation.
CANDIDATE FORUM/LEGISLATIVE BREAKFASTWe believe that an educated community will be a vocal community, and will express its voice at the polls. To that end, we work to educate the community about the positions of its elected officials and candidates.
Leading up to the primary elections for governor, we hosted a leadership forum with gubernato-rial candidate Congresswoman Allyson Schwartz, where she pledged her support for the state’s educational tax credit programs. We also held a legislative breakfast with Governor Tom Corbett, who discussed his positions on the economy, the state of Pennsylvania’s education system and the future of the state. Nearly 100 community members attended the two events, which were held in private homes.
GUBERNATORIAL VOTER GUIDE In addition to the candidate forums, we developed a gubernatorial voter guide to help the community learn about the candidates. We reached out to the candidates with questions about education, state funding for education, the tax credit programs, school safety and other general issues. To download or read the voter guide online, visit the OU Advocacy-PA web page, www.OUadvocacy.org/pa.
EITC CHECK PRESENTATION TO THE SILVER ACADEMY IN HARRISBURG
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IMPACTMARYLAND
TRANSPORTATIONJewish day school parents in Montgomery County have long been seeking busing for their children. In response, we reached out to the County Executive’s office and Delegate Bonnie Cul-lison to identify a solution that would provide busing services for non-public schools. Together with the Jewish day schools, we presented the community’s needs and won County Executive Isiah Leggett’s support for various public and private options.
On June 2, Hebrew Academy students rode Montgomery County buses to school as part of a pilot busing program. At the beginning of September, the program expanded to include three Montgomery County Jewish day schools.
PRE-KINDERGARTEN EDUCATIONBy working with Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, sponsor of Maryland’s Pre-Kindergarten Expansion Act of 2014, we helped expand the legislation so that non-public schools and middle-class families could participate in the program.
THROUGH OUR ADVOCACY, the first-ever busing program was launched for Jewish day schools in Montgomery County.
Since opening the Maryland office of OU Advocacy in January 2014, we have been working on behalf of local Jewish day schools and the larger Jewish community, seeking services for non-public school students—for transporta-tion, children with special needs, secular textbooks for all students, the safety and security of Jewish day schools, and more. Within six months, our work has had an impact on Maryland Jewish families.
FUNDING FOR JEWISH DAY SCHOOLS
OU ADVOCACY-MD MEETS WITH LT. GOV. ANTHONY BROWN
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Since opening our office in January, we found an outpouring of interest and support from the Maryland Jewish community in seeking legislative solutions to the challenge of tuition affordability and voicing the needs of the community to our legislators.
LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST In June, more than 500 community members attended our inaugural legislative breakfast to discuss educational affordability with 50 elected officials and candidates running for office.
CANDIDATE FORUMS & COMMUNITY MEETINGSWe believe that an educated community can make informed decisions at the ballot box. To that end, we worked to educate the community about the positions of elected officials and candidates.
During the past six months, we host-ed Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, Delegates Anne Kaiser and Craig Zucker (D-14) as well as a candidate forum with the five candidates running for delegate in Montgomery County District 19. At each event, the legislators and candidates spoke to a packed room about their positions on busing, universal pre-K, and state funding for non-public schools.
PRE-K TRAININGIn order to help Jewish pre-schools understand how to participate in the
state’s pre-K program, we convened a training session with the Maryland State Department of Education for directors of Jewish pre-schools in Montgomery and Howard Counties to learn about the qualifications for the program.
“ THROUGH OU ADVOCACY’S assistance, not only are we saving families money by offering them inexpensive busing, but saving them even more tuition dollars down the line. We are glad to be part of the growing list of OU local affordability initiative success stories.”
Dave Sloan, Board Member, Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy
OU ADVOCACY-MD’S KAREN BARALL ADDRESSING THE LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST
A CROWD OF 500 AT OU ADVOCACY-MD’S LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST
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IMPACTFLORIDA
SCHOOL CHOICE LEGISLATIONThrough Florida’s school choice program, which includes features proposed by the OU and JLC, hundreds of additional middle-income Jewish families can receive scholarships to Jewish day schools.
The program removes the requirement that students in grades 6-12 must have attended public school in the prior year in order to receive a private school scholarship and increases the scholarship caps per student from $4,800 to approximately $5,272. It also creates personalized learning scholarship accounts for parents of students with special needs, who can use that funding for private school tuition, tutoring programs and therapy sessions.
THROUGH OUR ADVOCACY, hundreds of additional families can receive scholar-ships to Jewish day schools through the state’s expanded school choice program.
In the 18 months since OU Advocacy teamed up with the Jewish Leadership Coalition for School Choice to form the Jewish Leadership Coalition (JLC) and advocate for government funding for non-public schools, our efforts have yielded real results for Florida’s 29 Jewish day schools and its Jewish families.
Through our advocacy, $8.2 million was allocated to Jewish day schools for the 2014-15 school year through an expanded school choice program.
FUNDING FOR JEWISH DAY SCHOOLS
TUITION AFFORDABILITY ADVOCACY SHABBAT PROGRAM
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COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Growing our community network and engaging the community are key elements to reaching our legislative goals for Jewish day schools.
TUITION AFFORDABILITY ADVOCACY SHABBAT PROGRAMSWe believe that community members can be a voice for the larger Jewish community. We organized two weekend events to mobilize community members about how they can help expand the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship legislation and increase scholarships to Jewish day schools. Nearly 1,000 community members participated in our Tuition Affordability Advocacy Shabbat events, held at Boca Raton Synagogue in January, and at the Young Israel of Hollywood in March.
ADVOCACY MISSIONIn February, we led a delegation of community leaders from throughout South Florida to Tallahassee to impress upon state legislators the magnitude and potential impact that expanding the Florida Tax Credit Scholarship Program could have on the Florida Jewish day school community.
“ FLORIDA’S expanded school choice program is a perfect example of how advocacy can have a real impact on communities and families.”
Maury Litwack, OU Advocacy Director of State Political Affairs
SOUTH FLORIDA ADVOCACY MISSION TO TALLAHASSEE
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IMPACTIN THE MEDIA
OU ADVOCACY IN THE MEDIA
Op-Ed: For Jewish education’s future, look to AlbanyBy Maury LitwackMarch 18, 2014
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's universal pre-K program has the potential to help Jewish early childhood programs. (Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
ALBANY, N.Y. (JTA) — Washington has little trouble commanding the collective attention of the organized Jewish community. But for those who care about increasing funding for Jewish education, reining in out-of-control costs at day schools and seeking to ease crushing tuition burdens, the place to watch this month is
Albany.
Right now several education initiatives are being considered in New York’s state capital that have national implications for Jewish schools.
A proposed education tax credit, if enacted, would immediately be one of the nation’s largest new programs to support nonpublic schools. The State Senate legislation proposal would allow up to $275 million to be donated for scholarships at private schools over the next two years. Children whose families earn up to $500,000 would be eligible to take advantage of the scholarships.
In addition, a universal pre-kindergarten program backed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo seems likely to pass this year. A statewide universal pre-K program has the potential to provide funding for our youngest children at their earliest entry point for Jewish education.
Meanwhile, a new funding formula for the Comprehensive Attendance Policy and Mandated Services Reimbursement programs, two state initiatives providing funding for anti-truancy programs and mandated services required of private schools, is in the mix as well. These programs are already part of nearly every school’s budget, but an increase in funding — now being negotiated among state government leaders – would help schools tremendously.
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 Jewish Exponent, Tablet Magazine, JTA, 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.
Why the Orthodox Union Supports Religious Exemptions to the Contraception Mandate
It’s not because they oppose contraception
By Nathan J. Diament | January 28, 2014
In June 2012, the Orthodox Union brought a dozen Orthodox lay and rabbinical leaders to the White House to meet with President Obama. We knew our time with the president would be limited, so we planned carefully which issues we would raise for discussion. Of course, we spoke to the president about the security of Israel. We spoke to him about the critical role Jewish day schools play in our community and the need to provide appropriate government support for them. Any good staffer briefing President Obama for the meeting would have predicted we would broach exactly those issues.
But then we took the conversation down a less predictable path: we raised our concern over the Administration’s effort, under the Affordable Care Act, to mandate employers to provide widespread access to contraceptives and other women’s health services through their employer-sponsored health insurance plans. We stressed to President Obama that Orthodox Judaism does not share the Catholic Church’s view of the absolute impermissibility of contraception. But we also stressed that we do share a deep concern for religious liberty and oppose government policies, even in the service of commendable ends, which would force religious Americans to violate the tenets of their faith, especially when the government can achieve its goals in other ways.
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Christie Calls for School Vouchers at Orthodox Jewish Gathering in Teaneck
The Record & Herald News, October 7, 2013
NYC Jews Optimistic after De Blasio Landslide
The Times of Israel, November 7, 2013
Cuomo Push to Beef-Up Anti-Bullying Law Cheered by Jewish Orgs
The Jewish Week, January 14, 2014
OU Advocates for Tuition Aid
The Jewish Standard, March 7, 2014
JLC Lobbies in Tallahassee for Jewish Day School Scholarships
Sun Sentinel, March 10, 2014
Hillary Clinton Must Once Again Win Over Some in Jewish Community
CNN, March 18, 2014
OU Serves Up Political Breakfast
Washington Jewish Week, June 11, 2014
Full-Day Pre-K Choice for New York City’s Religious Schools
The Wall Street Journal, June 29, 2014
Faith Groups Divided in their Reaction to Court’s Decision Affirming Religious Rights
The Washington Post, June 30, 2014
De Blasio’s Prekindergarten Expansion Collides with Church-State Divide
The New York Times, August 4, 2014
Hillary Clinton must once again win over some in Jewish communityBy Dan Merica, CNNMarch 18, 2014
Washington (CNN) -- Flanked by Jewish politicians in front of the United Nations on a July day, then-Sen. Hillary Clinton made a forceful appeal for the United States to back Israel as the Jewish nation's forces squared off against Hezbollah during the 2006 Lebanon War.
"We will stand with Israel because Israel is standing for American values as well as Israeli ones," said Clinton.
Clinton was an outspoken defender of Israel and representative for American Jews for eight years in the Senate. But it wasn't always that way. She had to work hard for Jewish support in 2000 as the New York Jewish community was skeptical of her support for Israel and publicly wondered whether the former first lady was too sympathetic with the Palestinians.
But by the time she ran for president in 2008, a number of Jewish Democrats said her record with the community was unprecedented. Touting her foreign policy credentials and defense of Israel, Jewish leaders flocked to Clinton as she ran against Barack Obama in the Democratic primaries.
But after losing to Obama, Clinton signed on to be the new President's secretary of state and the face of his foreign policy. Over the next four years, some Jewish leaders said Clinton's once-consistent, outspoken leadership on Israel was hamstrung by her role as Obama's top diplomat.
Obama and Abbas: Time running out for even a framework for Middle East talks
Many applauded when she talked tough on Iran, like in 2010 when she labeled the country as one with an "anti-Semitic president and hostile nuclear ambitions" or when she said in Qatar that "Iran is moving toward a military dictatorship."
But many also winced quietly when she floated trial balloons about a nuclear deal with Iran, like in a 2010 interview with the BBC in which Clinton said Iran could enrich uranium for civilian purposes if it came into compliance with international norms.
Insid
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By Roslyn Singer
OU Seeks to Cut Energy Costsfor Schools and Shuls
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IMPACTOU ADVOCACY
Our advocacy led to more than $120 million in state and federal funds for the Jewish community for the 2014-15 school year.
STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDING
CAP/MSR: $49.5MSCHOOL SAFETY: $1M
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS & TECHNOLOGY UPGRADES: $32.5M
COMPREHENSIVE ATTENDANCE POLICY (CAP)/MANDATED SERVICES REIMBURSEMENT (MSR)These two state initiatives provide funding for anti-truancy programs and mandated services required by private schools. After being continually underfunded by the state since they were created, our advocacy led to the largest amount ever allocated to these two programs as well as a payment plan to pay down the balance of arrears.
SCHOOL SAFETYThe School Safety program allows non-public schools to be reimbursed for any safety/security equipment they purchase.
CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS AND TECHNOLOGY UPGRADESThrough the Smart Schools Bond Act, which must be approved by voters in November, the state will fund capital improvements and technology upgrades in both public and non-public schools.
NEW YORK$83 MILLION
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NURSING AID: $3.4MTECHNOLOGY AID: $1.1M
TEXTBOOK AID: $2.1M
EITC/OSTC PROGRAMS: $10MSCHOOL SAFETY: $800,000
NEW JERSEY$6.6 MILLION
NURSING AIDThe funding allotted to nursing services will enable some non-public schools to finally 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 AIDThrough the technology aid, non-public schools will have the means to 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, software and other technology items.
TEXTBOOKS In helping schools provide basic needs for their students, the state of New Jersey provides fund-ing to non-public schools for secular textbooks.
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 fami-lies across Pennsylvania. Through our advocacy efforts, Pennsylvania legislators preserved the funding for both programs at $100 million and $50 million, respectively, despite a deficit of more than $1 billion.
SAFE SCHOOL LEGISLATIONPennsylvania Jewish day schools can receive up to $40,000 per school to hire security guards through the School Police Officer Grant.
PENNSYLVANIA$10.8 MILLION
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SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAM: $8.2M
NONPROFIT SECURITY GRANTS: $12M
EXPANDED SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAMSigned into law in July, Florida’s expanded school choice program will serve more than 67,000 low-income students and will provide scholarships to hundreds of additional middle-income Jewish families. It also creates personalized learning scholarship accounts for parents of students with special needs.
NONPROFIT SECURITY GRANT PROGRAM (NSGP)Spearheaded by the OU eight years ago in partnership with the Jewish Federations of North America, the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security’s Security Grants program helps nonprofits improve the safety and security of their buildings. This year, 90 percent of the 186 grants went to Jewish institutions.
FLORIDA$8.2 MILLION
CONGRESS$12 MILLION
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Moishe Bane
Harvey Blitz
Benham Dayanim
Howard Friedman
Jon Gellis
Michael Granoff
Elliot Holtz
David Luchins
Matthew Maryles
Allen Pfeiffer
Barry Sklar
Sam Sutton
Shira Yoshor
Martin NachimsonPresident, Orthodox Union
Allen FaginExecutive Vice President, Orthodox Union
Yehuda NeubergerChairman, OU Advocacy Center
NATIONAL LEADERSHIP
OU ADVOCACY NATIONAL COMMITTEE
IMPACTLEADERSHIP
STAFF AND LEADERSHIP
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IMPACTLEADERSHIP
PROFESSIONAL STAFF
Nathan DiamentExecutive Director
Jeff LebRegional Director
New York
Karen BarallRegional Director
Mid-Atlantic
Maury LitwackDirector of State Political Affairs
Jake AdlerDirector of Field Operations
New York
Michelle TwerskyAssociate Regional Director
Mid-Atlantic
Roslyn SingerDirector of Communications
Arielle Frankston-MorrisDirector of Field Operations
New York
Michael BodnerLegislative Fellow
Josh PruzanskyRegional Director
New Jersey
Melissa KatzAdministrator
CONTACT US
Washington, D.C. 202.513.6484
New York 212.613.8123
New Jersey 732.690.7074
Pennsylvania 917.734.5240
Maryland 202.513.6484
Florida [email protected]
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