Dear Agudah Activist:
Congress is considering a $10 billion “school choice” proposal and we need you to urge your senators and representatives to support the bill as co-sponsors.
Last year, the Supreme Court strengthened the future of school choice, a goal that Agudath Israel has strongly advocated for in Washington, in state capitals and in courtrooms over a course of seven decades. Our work is paying off in meaningful ways.
The important challenge we now face is to translate the Supreme Court victory into practical victories for our parents and children. And we are now confronted with one such opportunity.
The “Educational Choice for Children Act” (S.120/H.R.531) is major school choice legislation recently introduced in Congress that has the potential of moving school choice forward across the country. The legislation will effectively encourage individual and corporate taxpayers to invest in education and cover expenses facing public and private school children to the tune of $10 billion per year.
It does this by allowing, within a specified framework, a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for individuals and corporations for contributions made to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGO). These SGOs would then provide scholarships to children of eligible families for a range of educational expenses, including private school tuition!
This federal assistance will help families send their children to the schools – public, private or religious – that they deem to offer the most suitable education for their children. Moreover, the proposed federal scholarship tax credit program will add significantly to existing state scholarship programs and encourage the opening up of more opportunities in states where few, if any, such programs exist.
All of this promises to be of great benefit to Jewish parents who are committed – but struggle — to giving their children a sound Torah education.
If this effort is to move forward, our community must voice its strong support and encourage our senators and representatives to cosponsor this legislation. We urge you to contact your members of Congress by email or phone using the link above. And, as members regularly return to their districts to meet constituents and listening to their concerns, those are opportune times to reach out to your elected officials in person in their offices or when they attend events in your area.
Congress must hear our voices. Please help make that happen.
To see if your member of Congress already signed on as a co-sponsor see here for House bill and here for Senate bill. If they have, please express your appreciation. If not, let them hear your voice.