Agudath Israel celebrates the favorable vote on Wednesday of The Educational Choice for Children Act of 2024 (ECCA). Following a model already operating successfully in more than twenty states, H.R. 9462 will provide $5 billion in scholarships to cover expenses facing public and private school children. It does this by allowing a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for taxpayers who contribute to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGO). These SGOs would then provide scholarships for a range of educational expenses, including private school tuition.
Agudath Israel played a key role in the crafting and promotion of this legislation. Working with the sponsors and coalition partners over the last several years, Agudah staff participated in hundreds of meetings and most recently submitted a memo (here) of support and generated thousands of letters of support from constituents across the country. Following nearly two hours of discussion, the US House Ways and Means Committee voted in favor of the proposal, clearing the way for the bill to be brought to the floor of the House
“We thank the 23 members of the Ways and Means Committee who voted with families today and we encourage their colleagues on both sides of the aisle to follow their lead and support this important legislation on the floor of the House.” Said Rabbi Avi Schnall, Agudath Israel’s Director of Federal Education Affairs.
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3 Responses
Mazel Tov!
This is great news!
Its really sad that all this effort is being spent on life in the diaspora which will inevitably come to an end. And the end is in sight.
Why save a sinking ship?
Come to EY and advocate for Netzach! Make an everlasting difference!
It’s not easy but worthwhile.
Can you imagine a father who lives in an average kind of house but down the street is a gvir with a gorgeous house, servants, cars etc. So the son (who the father is bankrolling) says to his father, sorry Pops, your house is too small, the ac doesnt work so well, (ac in Israel is awesome – btw) the servants are lazy, your car isn’t the latest model, the meats, sushi, wine, whiskey etc at the shabbos table isnt so amazing etc etc. so I’m going to live by the Gvir but dont worry I’ll send checks to my siblings back home (remember, pops is providing the coverage). Let my siblings take care of you and give you nachas! I’ll sned you pictures and maybe even visit every so often…. oiy oiy oiy!!! How sad!!
Individual Aliyah is not so easy but definetly doable. The solution may be communal Aliyah. There is alot of building going on now in israel. Cut a deal with the government, to put aside apartments for purchase rights for a certain community. Send representatives to build schools, Mesivtos, Yeshivos and Seminnaries. Send representives to explore employment oppurtunities and start the process. America is our past. Eretz yisroel is our future. lets invest in our future.
“He who pays the fiddler, calls the tune”.
Government funding for our schools is nice, but what if the government is “Progressive” (a.k.a. woke) with demands that the schools teach that “trans” is good and “straight” is bad, that religion is false, or that Jews are European colonists who stole Eretz Yisrael from the indigenous peoples.
Eretz Yisrael has many attractions, but their government is run be seculars and there is no guarantee that they won’t start making unacceptable demands on Jewish schools. Note that most Israelis want to ban young men from learning Torah. Also remember that once America no longer supports Israel, it isn’t clear how long Israel will survive (a handful of bombs, “loaned” by the Russians or Chinese to the Arabs, can easily kills most Israelis and there won’t be much the medinah can do to defend itself).