Teach NJS hosted successful events in Highland Park on March 4 and Fair Lawn on March 26. Both of these well-attended events brought out a passionate group of yeshiva day school constituents who are committed to developing methods to ensure the continuity and long-term viability of yeshiva education.

Teach NJS is working to secure funding for health, security, textbooks, STEM faculty and more, and they need our help to demonstrate publicly the importance of this issue. This approach requires widespread participation and commitments that will yield a long-term benefit. Toward that end, it is important that we have a strong turnout for the Teach NJS legislative breakfast on April 15. Please make every effort to attend. Our communal attendance and support is the fuel Teach NJS needs to get the job done.

Additionally, while it is our job to advocate for this state funding, it is the responsibility of our schools to be transparent in the use of any funds obtained through these efforts. The goal is to make education affordable, which means using this money to offset existing expenses.

Whether this commitment is demonstrated in the form of line item credits on tuition statements or some alternate means of clearly communicating the use of these funds, this is an opportunity for our schools to demonstrate their support and commitment toward innovative methods to make yeshiva education affordable.

As a community, we need to be grateful to the lay leaders of our schools, people who commit their time and efforts to the ongoing operations of our yeshivot. We must also engage with each other to develop ideas and methods to ensure the long-term viability of yeshiva education.

Daniel Stokar

Fair Lawn, NJ