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January 22, 2004
Union
of Orthodox Jewish Congregations
Applauds Historic Passage of First
Federally Funded School Choice Program
Today, the
Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America applauded the
U.S. Senate’s passage of the first federally funded school choice
program. The program, approved as part of the Omnibus
Appropriations Bill passed this afternoon by the Senate on a 65-28
vote, will create a school voucher pilot program in Washington,
D.C.
The pilot program proposal -- initiated by President Bush and
endorsed by Democratic leaders of D.C., Mayor Williams, City
Councilman Chavous and School Board President Cafritz – will
provide $40 million in new funding for K-12 education in the
District, a portion of which would be disbursed to low income
families for tuition scholarships. The program is designed to
empower parents by awarding scholarships of up to $7500 to those
who qualify and desire to remove their child from a failing
school.
Union President Harvey Blitz issued the following statement in
connection with today’s Senate action:
The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations has long been a
supporter of school choice initiatives for they are in keeping
with the fundamental Jewish teaching that parents are primarily
responsible for the education of their children. We applaud the
leadership of President Bush who is clearly determined to improve
the educational opportunities for all America’s children and we
applaud Mayor Williams and other D.C. officials for their
courageous leadership on this issue as well. We also applaud
Democratic members of the Senate who placed the interests of
children ahead of partisan politics by supporting this initiative.
Proponents of the D.C. school choice proposal recognize that
policy decisions in the education arena must be made on the basis
of the best interests of schoolchildren. We look forward to the
implementation of this program, and the educational opportunities
it will provide.
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