Standing on the steps of City Hall, OU Advocacy-Teach NYS, together with a group of elected officials and leaders from faith-based schools, called for the specific inclusion of private and faith-based schools in any universal pre-K (UPK) legislation. Both Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio have proposed initiatives for UPK, but neither proposal contains specific language including non-public schools.
“OU Advocacy-Teach NYS supports both UPK initiatives and is not taking sides between the governor’s proposal and the mayor’s proposal. Our primary concern is to ensure that any legislation that passes includes all private and faith-based schools as well as public schools,” said Jeff Leb, New York director of political affairs for the Orthodox Union and director of OU Advocacy-Teach NYS.