Agudath Israel of America warmly welcomes today’s announcement that President-elect Trump has nominated Betsy DeVos for the position of US Secretary of Education.
Agudath Israel has worked closely with Mrs. DeVos for many years, together with other organizations and legislators from both sides of the aisle, to give parents educational options for their children. Thanks to that effort, hundreds of thousands of children across the United States are receiving a quality education they couldn’t otherwise afford, including many students who choose to attend Jewish day schools.
Shlomo Werdiger, chairman of Agudath Israel’s board of trustees, expressed his enthusiastic support for Mrs. DeVos’s nomination. “I have had some excellent discussions with Betsy DeVos,” Mr. Werdiger said. “She is intelligent, compassionate and effective. President-elect Trump has chosen wisely.”
“I have witnessed, firsthand, Betsy DeVos’s passionate support for school choice,” said Agudath Israel of America’s national director of state relations, Rabbi A. D. Motzen, “and I am confident that a Department of Education under her leadership will correctly focus on students.”
Agudath Israel of America advocates on behalf of more than 250,000 students in Jewish day schools and post-secondary institutions, and looks forward to continue working with Mrs. DeVos as she leads the effort to implement President-elect Trump’s education platform.
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As much as I approve this choice of Ms DeVos as the Secretary of Education, I would caution anyone who thinks that anything will change for us Yeshiva parents. It will be an extremely difficult proposition to institute vouchers nationally, especially in liberal leaning states like New York and New Jersey. On top of all that, vouchers for religious based schools will go through a never-ending legal battle that may or may not be resolved before PE Trump is still in office. All in all, the odds of us getting vouchers to send our kids to Yeshiva is still pretty slim.
Johnson, the legal battle regarding vouchers for religous schools already happened in the Supreme Court, that ruled it is legal. there are already states that offer that.
Trump has wisely campaigned for vouchers first for depressed urban areas, it is hard to fight that politically. Once the door has been opened, there is hope.