New Jersey State Assemblyman Joe Lagana, who represents the 38th district, spent the morning at Yeshivat Noam meeting and greeting students, staff and parents. Assemblyman Lagana toured the campus, addressed the students and answered questions about education affordability specifically, and local government in general.

“I regularly try to visit with businesses, schools and organizations throughout district 38 to ensure I am hearing from my constituents on the issues that matter most to them where they live and work,” said Assemblyman Lagana, “and in that light, today’s visit at Yeshivat Noam reaffirmed my strong belief that we must continue to improve school security for all New Jersey children.”

The opportunity was initiated and directed by Teach NJS which is a partnership of 20 Jewish Day Schools, including Yeshivat Noam, the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, the Jewish Federation of the Heart of New Jersey and the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center. According to Ariella Noveck, the North Jersey Field Director for Teach NJS, “Our goal is to increase state funding to gain parity in core educational programs and services for all non-public schools.”

Assemblyman Lagana has taken an active role in supporting non-public school funding in the Assembly and is now advocating for the State Senate to approve a recent bill raising the funding for non-public schools. Currently, Yeshivat Noam receives $25 per student from the state for security funding and the current bill would increase that amount to $144.

According to Nathan J. Lindenbaum, who is a Yeshivat Noam founder, board member and a committee chair of Teach NJS, “Advocacy is about community activism. We need to show our local elected officials that we appreciate the work they are doing and we need to make calls, visits and emails to make our voices heard as a community.”