NEW YORK – Teach NYS, a project of the Orthodox Union and New York’s leading nonprofit focused on equitable funding for the state’s nonpublic schools, welcomed its first-ever upstate New York schools: Syracuse Hebrew Day School (Syracuse); Talmudical Institute of Upstate New York and Derech HaTorah (Rochester); and Ohr Temimim (Buffalo).
“The addition of these schools demonstrates our fast-growing and ever-expanding reach and how much our work has benefitted schools across the state,” Teach NYS Grassroots Director Annie Watman said. “Additionally, this significant increase in our geographic representation strengthens our influence in Albany which, in turn, helps us do even more to benefit all nonpublic schools.”
As members, the schools will work closely with Teach NYS staff to obtain support in uncovering and navigating the labyrinth of government applications and programs to secure local, state and federal funds available to them.
Said Teach NYS Director for Government Programs Yosef Kanofsky, “Many day schools are either unaware of the government funding they can obtain or don’t have the staff, time and know-how needed to cut through the red tape. We work closely with each of our schools to ensure they’re getting every dollar for which they’re eligible from New York State.”
Teach NYS, a division of the Orthodox Union’s Teach Coalition, was founded in 2013 to advocate for equitable government funding for New York nonpublic schools. It has secured an additional $450 million in funding for day schools, which is used to increase security, enhance education and defray higher tuition costs. Teach NYS created a first in the nation program to begin reimbursing nonpublic schools for the costs of qualified STEM instructors. In 2018, it championed a historic pilot program to begin providing Kosher and Halal meals to students enrolled in both public and nonpublic schools in New York City. For more information, visit https://teachcoalition.org/nys/.