On February 15, Teach NJ brought Senator Gordon Johnson (D) and Assemblywoman Shama Haider (D) to pay a visit to The Moriah School in Englewood where they were greeted by Head of School Rabbi Daniel Alter, Executive Director Erik Kessler and President of the Board of Trustees Ranit Shiff. The legislators were given a tour of the school as parents, faculty and Teach NJ staff underscored the significance of state funding for day schools.
The tour included a stop at The Moriah School’s STEM lab. Tzipporah Boim, associate principal of the Middle School, thanked the lawmakers for their continued support of STEM education. She also expressed her gratitude and appreciation for the NJ STEM Grant, which pays for public school teachers to come and provide STEM instruction at nonpublic schools, including Moriah.
The visit gave the school a chance to illustrate just how important the funding has been while highlighting the immense potential of what increased funding can do for our schools.
Moriah parent Shloimie Zeffren shared a story about the importance of reliable school bussing to families like his and the need for an increase in transportation funding to ensure that students will be able to get to school. Ben Blumenthal spoke about the growing need for technology in the classroom and the fact that state funds for school technology have not increased significantly since 2001.
Maya Joyandeh, Teach NJ field director, added, “The visit was a wonderful opportunity for community members to build relationships with our state representatives and thank them for their continued support of our children. By deepening these relationships, we allow legislators to understand our community’s needs in a very real way.”
Parents and school leaders thanked the legislators for their continued support and current round of funding, and asked them to consider increasing funding for nonpublic school students in the coming year. Moriah parent Ben Blumenthal said, “As our children’s biggest advocates, one of the most important things we can do for them is to let our legislators know just how committed we are to ensuring our children receive a quality education and that we are ready, willing and able to partner with them and make that happen.”
“We thank Senator Johnson and Assemblywoman Haider for taking the time to visit with our school leaders and parents,” said Katie Katz, executive director of Teach NJ. “This visit was a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate the importance of the funding the state provides for school nurses, security guards, STEM educators and more. All students should have the opportunity for an affordable, safe, quality education. We look forward to continuing to educate our legislators about these issues.”
To learn more about what Teach NJ does in your community, visit www.teachcoalition.org or email Maya Joyandeh at [email protected] to hear how you can get involved and get more funding for your children’s school.
By Jewish Link Staff
