ORTHODOX UNION, JEWISH LEADERSHIP COALITION FOR SCHOOL CHOICE FORM PARTNERSHIP FOR TUITION AFFORDABILITY
PARTNERSHIP INCLUDES SOUTH FLORIDA JEWISH DAY SCHOOLS AND JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS, REPRESENTING 5,000 STUDENTS
Together with a group of South Florida’s Jewish day schools and Jewish organizations representing more than 5,000 students, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America (OU) and the Jewish Leadership Coalition for School Choice (JLCSC) announce the creation of a new partnership that will consolidate community resources, conserve money and expand a sophisticated advocacy effort addressing tuition affordability. The new partnership will be known as the Jewish Leadership Coalition (JLC).
The JLC will capitalize on the strengths of its member organizations in order to support Jewish schools in Florida; galvanize segments of Florida’s Jewish community for school choice; as well as train and deploy lay leaders to effectively advocate for Jewish education. The JLC will organize meetings with elected officials; an annual mission to Tallahassee, voter registration and get out the vote efforts, and grassroots advocacy activities.
The partnership was forged under the leadership of Miami Beach community leader Dr. Allan Jacob, president of Toras Emes Academy of Miami and chairman of the Rabbinical Seminary of America Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim, along with leaders of the Orthodox Union, Chabad Lubavitch and Agudath Israel, including Ari Hollander and Steve Bogimilsky, who will serve as co-chairs of the joint initiative. Elliot Schreiber of the JLCSC will serve as director of the new partnership with the advice and counsel of the organizations involved in the creation of this entity.
Schools participating in the new venture include Landow Educational Center, Yeshiva Elementary School, Bais Yaakov of Miami, the Jewish Cooperative School, Hebrew Academy of Margate, RASG Hebrew Academy, Toras Emes Academy of Miami, Yeshiva Toras Chaim of Miami, the Brauser Maimonides School, Torah Academy of Boca Raton, Hillel of Boca Raton, Weinbaum Yeshiva High School and Donna Klein Jewish Academy.
“We have ambitious goals for this merger that will magnify what Jewish education has seen in Florida,” said Yehuda Neuberger, chairman of OU Advocacy. “Beyond symbolically unifying Jewish day schools and major Jewish organizations, this partnership is designed to pursue a comprehensive policy to deliver resources to children, relief to parents and funding to Jewish day schools.”
“The JLC is excited to have the OU as a major partner in this venture. The depth of the OU’s experience and its level of commitment to this issue greatly increases and accelerates our chances for success to advocate for school choice and have a significant impact on the world of Jewish education,” said Dr. Jacob.
“The JLC team will work with school leadership to engage community members on this issue. Members of the initiative will work with the Florida legislature to craft and implement effective legislation that will benefit the private school community,” said Maury Litwack, director of state political affairs and outreach for OU Advocacy.
Both the OU and the JLCSC are known for their work on tuition affordability. The OU advocates throughout the nation for the establishment of policies that would ease the financial burden on private school parents. Recently, the JLCSC organized a successful mission to Tallahassee that met with the leadership of the Florida House and Senate. The OU and the JLCSC jointly managed a non-partisan voter registration campaign within Florida’s Jewish communities and both have been actively engaged in grassroots efforts to educate Jewish voters about the impact of school choice legislation.
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The Orthodox Union is the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization; the OU Advocacy Center, formerly the Institute for Public Affairs, is the non-partisan public policy arm of the OU and leads its advocacy efforts in Washington, DC and state capitals.
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