For the past six months, concerned community members have been talking about and working together to change the way our day schools are funded.
Since February, lay leaders and community members have met with more than 40 New Jersey State legislators to discuss the issue of educational affordability.Hearing the situation from the mouths of their constituents has made a significant impact on the way legislators view the growing financial concern faced by many day school families in our community.
This is part of the plan of NJ VOTES—a project of the Orthodox Union Advocacy Center.
Engaging lay leadership with legislators is only one step in the advocacy process. Another step is having the entire community get involved on a grassroots level. If everyone works together to raise awareness and increase public recognition about the issues that are critical to our community, we will see success in our effort to gain a significant increase in funding for our children’s education.
One of the most elementary ways for everyone to get involved is to vote in every election. When legislators see an engaged community that votes consistently in every election, they respond to that community’s needs.
This coming Tuesday, June 4th, is New Jersey’s primary elections. Every seat in Trenton from the Governor through the State Senate and Assembly is up for grabs this election season. Your individual vote in the primaries can make a significant difference for New Jersey’s Jewish community.
Primary elections draw few voters to the polls. People question why they should bother voting in primaries, particularly in those that are uncontested. Well, we should. Every vote is counted and we can make a major statement.
If only 5 percent of the registered voters turn out to vote, but 100 percent of our community turns out to vote, whose voice will be heard?
Did you know that the campaign office of every legislator reviews every vote? They know exactly who is and who isn’t voting. If you were an elected official and saw those numbers, which constituency would you help? Especially in a time of limited funding, would you help a constituency that helps determine whether you get elected to office or one that stays home and doesn’t vote?
Now is your time to act. The issues at hand are too important for our community to sit back and wait for Superman to come to the rescue. We need 100 percent participation on June 4th!
If you would like more information on this election or would like to get involved in NJ VOTES please call 201-416-7740 or check out our website at www.njvotes.org.
Josh Pruzansky is the regional director of OU Advocacy-New Jersey. The OU Advocacy Center, formerly the Institute for Public Affairs, is the non-partisan public policy arm of the OU and leads its advocacy efforts in Washington, DC and state capitals.
By Josh Pruzansky
