In our states with tax credit and state-sponsored scholarship programs, legislative wins expanded income eligibility requirements and eliminated wait lists. Now 50% of day school and yeshiva students in Florida and Pennsylvania will be receiving scholarships worth a total of around $70 million just this year.
With antisemitism on the rise, protecting our children is now a year-round priority. That’s why Teach Coalition and the newly formed Summer Camp Network advocated for government security funding and helped camps access it. The result was $1 million in Pennsylvania state funding that helped secure 4,000 campers at camps including Camps Stone, Nesher, Morasha, Ramah of the Poconos, Moshava, Dora Golding, and Mesivta Eitz Chaim, among others.
All the professional security steps we have taken required a serious input of funds. Teach Coalition guided us every step of the way from the required advocacy to making sure we filled out the applications properly, and finally to making sure that we were in fact awarded.”
From New York and New Jersey to Pennsylvania, Florida, and beyond, Jewish day school and yeshiva children, parents, and school staff ended the school year by participating in Teach Coalition’s first- ever #Gratitude4Guards campaign. Scores of security guards were surprised and appreciative of the children’s handmade cards, donuts, coffee, and abundance of high-fives.
Teach Coalition’s 2022 advocacy to increase security funding across our states has led to more than a $90 million investment in security funding for Jewish day schools, yeshivas, camps, and other nonprofits. As antisemitism and violence toward our community continues to rise, Teach Coalition’s commitment to making sure our children and communities are secure and protected will be strengthened as we work on innovative solutions to funding and security.
Protecting our children in school continues to be a top advocacy priority that resulted in a $30 million increase in New York security funding for a total of $70 million for schools and communities, and a $4.5 million increase for schools in New Jersey.
Teach Coalition knows that the more people who show up to talk about our issues, the more likely elected officials will pay attention and act on our behalf. This year, every one of our Teach states achieved record attendance during their missions to our state capitals. Whether virtual or in person, over 2,000 day school and yeshiva students, joined by lay leaders, asked scores of state senators and legislators for increased security, STEM teacher
funding, expanded services, and scholarships for students with unique abilities.
Our legislative missions are not just about leveraging our numbers for policy wins. They are an important step in showing students they can impact their education, their families, and communities by speaking up, taking responsibility, and hopefully becoming leaders in the years to come.
Legislative dinners and breakfasts in New York, New Jersey, and Florida attracted record crowds this year, as more than 1,000 lay leaders, supporters, activists, and school communities turned out in force to meet elected officials and show their support for the policies championed by Teach Coalition. From state senate presidents and committee chairs to local mayors, more than 170 elected officials came to our events to show their friendship with the Jewish community and their support for innovative educational and security programs to benefit all children.
