GREENFIELD GETS YESHIVAS Historic: Yeshivas Working MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN Together To Fight Budget Cuts NEW FUNDING By Sara Schwartz By Sara Schwartz David G. Greenfield
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f you’re a yeshiva, who do you turn to when Governor David Paterson’s budget proposes a 44% cut in funding that may force you to close your doors? There’s no question about that. You turn to political strategist and community advocate David G. Greenfield. As soon as official word came out, The Education Alliance for Children in New York State (TEACH NYS) under the leadership of Director and Counsel David G. Greenfield, Esq. kicked into high gear. They quickly put together a powerful coalition of Jewish, Catholic and Independent school leaders to lobby Albany against the funding cuts. As background, despite the daily struggle that parents are facing to pay yeshiva tuition, the Governor decided to cut funding to yeshivas. In turn, those cuts would force many yeshivas to raise tuitions during the height of the recession. The governor’s initial proposal would cut $62 million of state funding from yeshivas. Most of those cuts would come by eliminating the Comprehensive Attendance Program (CAP). CAP is a security program that ensures that children are in school during the school day and not out on the streets.
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TEACH NYS is the only organization exclusively dedicated to solving the tuition crisis. So they quickly set up a toll free telephone number to the Governor’s office to encourage people to call and protest the draconian cuts. After 15,000 people called the Governor to protest
Eli Shapiro, the Orthodox Union’s Howard Beigelman, TEACH NYS’s Andres Berry, Village of Lawrence Trustee Michael Fragin, Political Consultant Michael Tobman, International Political Strategist Shai Franklin and Former Assemblyman Ryan Karben.
the cuts to New York’s private schools, the Governor agreed to restore the CAP program in the budget. Unfortunately, he did not agree to restore any funding to the program.
This core group of top leaders went to work putting together a large group of yeshiva leaders from across the state to travel to Albany and tell their legislators ‘we need help.’ TEACH NYS arranged for a coach bus to pick up fifty yeshiva leaders from just about every county in New York State. In total nearly 50,000 students yeshiva students, were represented by these yeshiva leaders in Albany. The group met with over forty elected officials in one day and had one clear message - stop the disproportionate cuts to private schools in New York.
TEACH NYS actedeld quickly on the success of David Greenfi & Michael Bloomberg restoring the CAP program. Now that CAP was back in the budget, there would be an opportunity to get the funding back, as well. In February, Mr. Greenfield brought together a team of top political and education leaders including Sephardic Community Federation Policy Director Jeff Leb, Yeshiva University’s
“This was an unprecedented display of unity,” stated Mr. Greenfield, “by working together we sent a clear and united message that our communities’ top priority is the affordability of yeshiva education. It’s simple really - we need government to provide our yeshivas with their fair share of government funds,” Mr. Greenfield explained.