It’s Time for Yeshiva Advocates to Rethink Their Strategy—Push for Vouchers, Not Just Donations

Edited by: TJVNews.com

Across New York City, tireless and passionate advocates for Jewish education work around the clock to raise funds for yeshivas and Jewish day schools. Their efforts are nothing short of heroic. Every year, these organizations mobilize thousands of donors and raise millions of dollars to help maintain institutions that are vital to the survival of Jewish life and continuity. Their commitment is worthy of admiration and respect.

But it’s time to ask an uncomfortable question: Is fundraising alone a sustainable strategy? Or is it time to shift that energy and financial influence toward a long-overdue political campaign—one that would demand real systemic change through government-supported tuition assistance?

As Shtetl.org recently reported, in September 2023, a coalition of eight New York City Council members—many representing Orthodox Jewish communities—introduced legislation calling on the city to study the feasibility of tuition vouchers. These vouchers would reimburse families up to $10,000 annually per child attending a private school. The bill, supported by members of the Council’s “Common-Sense Caucus,” reflects growing frustration with the state’s refusal to provide financial relief to parents who are shouldering enormous tuition costs to preserve their religious values.

Jones County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Bryce Marquis describes how the funding being funneled into private school vouchers is deeply missed by his district. #NCed https://t.co/yjJBcIZF0T pic.twitter.com/h9j80sTgzB

— PublicEdWorks (@HigherEdWorks) April 30, 2025

Yet, even as the momentum for “school choice” grows nationwide—particularly in states such as Arizona, Florida, and Ohio—New York remains stagnant. These sweeping reforms have led to a significant migration of religious families, including Hasidic Jews, from states like New York to places where private school costs are subsidized.

A recent report from the Orthodox Union’s Teach Coalition underscored this trend, warning that unless New York adopted similar policies, it risked continued population loss among religious families. The advocacy group argued that tuition relief could help keep Orthodox families rooted in New York, where private Jewish schooling is a central pillar of communal life.

While vouchers remain off the table legally, New York State and City governments already provide various forms of indirect support to private schools. As Shtetl.org reported, these include funding for transportation, school meal programs, hiring teachers in secular subjects such as math and science, and compliance-related administrative services such as immunization tracking and attendance recordkeeping.

Efforts to pass statewide voucher legislation have also faced firm resistance in Albany. As the Shtetl.org report noted, the Teach Coalition has previously lobbied the state legislature for voucher reforms, but with little success. Democratic lawmakers, who hold a majority in both legislative chambers, remain largely aligned with public education unions and stakeholders.

Gov. Abbott announced a 30-day special session to begin Oct. 9 to provide private school subsidies, also known as vouchers, or education savings accounts. @TomballISD strongly opposes vouchers in any form. Public $’s belong in Public Schools #TeamTomball #DestinationExcellence pic.twitter.com/BSpDvWECoJ

— Dr. Martha SalazarZamora (@m_salazarzamora) October 7, 2023

State Senator Shelley Mayer, who chairs the Senate’s education committee, told Lohud (also cited by Shtetl.org) that she does not believe the legislature would entertain tuition vouchers beyond isolated, limited-use cases. “Public schools are my first priority,” she stated, emphasizing that existing funding is already stretched and should be directed toward strengthening public education infrastructure.

The student voucher program in New York is struggling because of entrenched opposition from one of the city’s most politically powerful and self-interested organizations: the United Federation of Teachers (UFT).

Let’s be clear. The UFT is not a neutral player in this debate. It is one of the most politically entrenched and ideologically rigid unions in New York. Its top priority isn’t students—it’s survival. And survival, for the UFT, means protecting jobs: teachers, administrators, staff, and their pension systems. Fewer students in the public school system means fewer jobs, fewer union dues, and less political clout. The UFT will oppose any initiative—no matter how just or morally compelling—that threatens its monopoly on taxpayer-funded education.

As it stands now, every parent who sends their child to a yeshiva in New York City pays twice: once through steep tuition—often exceeding $40,000 annually—and again through property and income taxes that fund the public school system their children don’t use. Those same tax dollars are used to bankroll a public education system plagued by dysfunction, ideological overreach, and substandard outcomes. Many parents of average means are effectively punished for choosing to give their children a religious education. This is morally indefensible.

It is time for Jewish philanthropic organizations—those that so admirably rally to raise tuition assistance for struggling families—to recognize that private fundraising, no matter how generous, is not a structural solution. The time, energy, and resources currently funneled into short-term fundraising should now be strategically redirected toward long-term legislative advocacy. That means lobbying at both the state and federal levels to establish universal voucher programs, modeled after successful systems in other states, where parents—not the state—decide how and where their education dollars are spent.

Imagine if even a fraction of the collective influence wielded by the yeshiva world—donors, institutional leaders, and communal organizations—were applied to a unified, strategic campaign to press Albany and Washington for school choice legislation. Imagine if the multimillion-dollar fundraising drives turned their attention toward building coalitions, funding litigation to challenge anti-voucher statutes, and developing messaging campaigns to win public support. Real change would become possible.

Opponents will argue that vouchers violate the New York State Constitution, which prohibits public funding of religious institutions. But these legal arguments are not insurmountable. Across the country, legal scholars and constitutional experts are working to challenge outdated and discriminatory “Blaine Amendments” that restrict funding to religious schools. New York is not an island, and it must not remain immune to this national movement.

It is time to recognize that the status quo is unsustainable. Yeshiva parents cannot continue to carry the dual financial burden of a broken public education system and an underfunded private one. Their tax dollars should not go toward the pensions of unionized teachers when their own children’s schools struggle to meet payroll. A rational, just system would allow those same dollars to follow the student—not the system.

This is not about defunding public education. It is about fairness, choice, and equity for parents of all backgrounds, especially those who prioritize religious instruction. New York’s Orthodox community must stop accepting second-class treatment. It must demand a new social contract in which education funding empowers families—not bureaucracies.

In a city where more than 200,000 students attend private schools—according to data cited by Shtetl.org—this is not a fringe issue. It is a mainstream concern, affecting hundreds of thousands of families. It’s time to act like it.

Yeshiva supporters, donors, and leaders have already proven their dedication. Now it’s time to transform that dedication into political power. School choice and obtaining vouchers is not a pipe dream—it is a moral imperative. The moment to fight for it is now.