Dear Friends: Every day we hear about the plight of yeshiva parents who struggle to afford tuition for their children.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 11, the House Ways and Means Committee will consider a five billion dollar scholarship proposal entitled the “Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA)” (H.R. 9462). ECCA has received support from more than150 members of the House and is the fastest and surest way to expand school choice to all 50 states.
We need you to urge your representatives to support the bill.
ECCA offers one critical form of “school choice” – methods that provide parents the financial ability to choose schools best suited for their children, whether they be public, private, or religious. This bill will encourage taxpayers to invest in education by allowing a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for taxpayers who contribute to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGO). These SGOs would then provide scholarships for a range of educational expenses, including private school tuition!
This approach, with its nearly universal eligibility, promises to be of great benefit to parents who struggle to afford tuition at the yeshivos and Jewish schools of their choice.
It is vital that you contact your representatives by using our portal clicking here. Congress must hear your voice.
Agudath Israel has been at the forefront of crafting and promoting ECCA as well as similar school choice legislation on the state and federal levels. We have submitted a legislative memo to the House Ways and Means Committee in support of ECCA, explaining the impact the legislation would have for the Orthodox Jewish community and on the benefits to all schoolchildren.
But we can’t do this without you.
The Committee will take up the bill tomorrow, so time is of the essence. Once the bill clears the committee it can then be scheduled for a vote on the House floor.
Thank you to all those who already took action! If you have not yet taken action, this is your last chance to take action before the committee votes!
Thank you and hatzlacha!
Agudath Israel of America
