Agudath Israel Offers Advice on How to Train Parents and Organize Clergy

How do we train parents to win the fight for school choice and how do we go about organizing clergy for the same purpose? Agudath Israel of America’s national director of state relations, Rabbi A. D. Motzen, addressed both of these issues as a panelist in back-to-back conferences this week. Beginning in New Orleans on Sunday at the American Federation for Children’s 2015 Policy Summit, Rabbi Motzen then headed to New York City for a parent organizing conference hosted by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice and Voices for Choices.

With prominent speakers such as former Senator Joseph Lieberman, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, the American Federation for Children summit was a great opportunity for education reformers to share ideas and be inspired. As in past years, Agudath Israel of America was one of the co-sponsors of the event.

During a panel discussion in New Orleans on engaging parents, Rabbi Motzen gave inspiring examples of parents who had a great impact on legislators by sharing their personal stories. He encouraged school choice advocates to connect with private school leaders in order to organize and activate their parents. The panel discussion, along with all summit sessions will be available next week at afcpolicysummit.com.

While the conference in New York was focused on organizing parents, Rabbi Motzen led a panel discussion on the topic of organizing clergy. He was joined by fellow panelists the Foundation for Opportunity in Education’s vice president for policy, Peter Murphy, and civil rights leader, Reverend H.K. Matthews. The panelists stressed the importance of engaging clergy in the school choice battle and offered practical advice.