Following a full-scale Get Out the Vote campaign urging the New York Jewish community to vote yes for the Smart Schools Bond Act of 2014, OU Advocacy-Teach NYS applauds the voters’ choice to pass the referendum, which can provide up to $32 million to New York Jewish day schools and yeshivas for technology equipment and upgrades.
The Smart Schools Bond Act was approved by more than 61 percent of the voters.
The OU Advocacy-Teach NYS team worked with state legislators and Governor Cuomo’s office during the previous legislative session to ensure that non-public schools would be included in the bond funding. The team will continue to work with legislators to finalize details about how the funding will be appropriated and allocated.
“Our field directors worked tirelessly to ensure that our entire network of Jewish day school and yeshiva leaders and parents understood the potential outcome this referendum could have for their schools,” said Jeff Leb, New York State Director for OU Advocacy, the non-partisan public policy arm of the Orthodox Union. “They helped get the Smart Schools Bond Act across the finish line.”
Jake Adler, OU Advocacy’s NYC Director of Political Affairs, said, “Jewish day schools and yeshivas are hungry for any funding that helps them provide their students with state-of-the-art technology and keep pace with today’s environment. We are grateful to Governor Cuomo for developing this important initiative.”
Arielle Frankston-Morris, Director of Field Operations for OU Advocacy-Teach NYS, noted how important a strong turnout at the polls is for the Jewish community. “Legislators track where votes come from. They consider the issues of their constituents who show up at the polls. When the Jewish community has a strong presence at the polls, that demonstrates we care about who represents us and the issues that affect us,” she said.