MORE THAN 200 ATTEND TEACH NJ ANNUAL DINNER THANKING NJ GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE FOR ALLOCATING $22.6 MILLION IN SECURITY FUNDING FOR NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS
MORE THAN 200 ATTEND TEACH NJ ANNUAL DINNER THANKING NJ GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATURE FOR ALLOCATING $22.6 MILLION IN SECURITY FUNDING FOR NONPUBLIC SCHOOLS
NEWARK, New Jersey – More than 200 people attended the Teach NJ Annual Dinner honoring New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and the New Jersey legislature for allocating $22.6 million in security funding for nonpublic schools. Teach NJ, a project of the Orthodox Union, is a nonpartisan organization advocating for equitable funding in New Jersey nonpublic schools. Among the attendees were many interfaith leaders including those from the Catholic and Muslim communities who work with Teach Coalition to advocate for security funding for all religious day schools.
More than 15 state legislators – including Assemblyman Gary Schaer (36th District, Passaic), Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin (29thDistrict, Newark), Former Gov. Richard Codey (27th District, Livingston) and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson (District 37, Teaneck) – attended the Dinner last night at the Newark Museum.
The dinner also celebrated the historic wins that Teach NJ has secured for the day school and yeshiva community. This year, Teach NJ achieved an unprecedented and historic increase in nonpublic school security funding by doubling the allocation to $22.6 million. It also advocated for the increase in total funding for nonpublic school security, nursing, technology and textbook aid to a record $50 million for the 2018-2019 school year.
“Let me begin by thanking Teach NJ for your continued advocacy for the highest standards of education and safety for children in our nonpublic schools. This is a shared passion among everyone in this room – including me. I applaud Teach NJ for working together in coalition with schools of all faiths – many of which are represented here tonight – for the benefit of all children. This is the kind of leadership and cooperation that will help unite us in these trying times,” said Gov. Murphy. “After our hearts were broken by the senseless tragedies at Parkland and Pittsburgh, we had to act. After reading about the increase in anti-Semitic activity in our state, we had to act.”
“This has been a remarkable year for Teach NJ. We have delivered record results for our schools and community. We are grateful to our lay leaders who tirelessly show their steadfast support for Teach NJ and our mission,” said Teach Coalition Executive Director Maury Litwack. “At last night’s dinner, we celebrated our successes and recognized the work that still needs to be done in order to fix this pressing issue for our community. There is still much to do, and we encourage all parents to get involved.”
“We’re honored to pay tribute to Gov. Murphy and the New Jersey state legislature for their support of the nonpublic school community,” added Teach Coalition’s Director of State Political Affairs Dan Mitzner. “The Governor has been a champion for nonpublic schools and our needs.”
Teach NJ, a division of the Orthodox Union’s Teach Coalition, was founded in 2015 to advocate for equitable government funding for New Jersey nonpublic schools. It has secured an additional $100 million in funding for day schools, which is used to increase security, enhance education and defray higher tuition costs. Approximately 170 day-schools and yeshivas receive support through Teach NJ efforts. For more information, visit https://teachcoalition.org/nj/.
