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Agudath Israel of America welcomed the announcement by the US House Ways and Means Committee that a federal school choice proposal will be considered for “markup” on Wednesday, September 11th.

The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) (H.R. 9462) will encourage taxpayers to invest in education and cover expenses facing public and private school children.

The bill would allow a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for taxpayers who contribute to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGO), following a model already operating successfully in more than twenty states. These SGOs would then provide scholarships for various educational expenses, including private school tuition.

Agudath Israel has been at the forefront of promoting ECCA and similar legislation at the state and federal levels. In a memo to the House Ways and Means Committee, Agudath Israel explained the importance of the bill.

“We firmly believe that one of the keys to educational excellence is parental involvement and that there is no better way to encourage such involvement, and to ensure educational accountability than to allow parents to choose the school that is best suited for their children, whether public or nonpublic, secular, or sectarian.”

“Thousands of students currently attend Jewish schools as a result of scholarships generated by tax credit programs. Many of those families would be unable to pay their tuition obligations without scholarships from scholarship granting organizations (“SGOs”) that assist families to pay tuition under these scholarship tax credit programs, but the need far exceeds the demand. This bill will spur the philanthropic spirit of American taxpayers and encourage them to invest in the future of our country – the education of our children.”

The memo points out that “school choice is beneficial for all states and gaining in popularity with voters and elected officials of all parties. In urban areas, school choice has helped stabilized neighborhoods, as it takes away the incentive of young families to move to the suburbs in search of better schooling.”

“We encourage lawmakers, to put a bipartisan stamp on the common-sense policy that is at the heart of this bill: assisting parents to access the learning environment and the educational benefits that are best suited for their children, and that will enhance educational achievement for all of America’s students,” said Rabbi Abba Cohen, Agudath Israel of America’s Vice President for Government Affairs and Washington Director.

“While school choice is advancing across the nation, nearly half of the states in this country have not yet enacted any such program. This bill will allow parents in all 50 states to benefit from educational freedom,” added Rabbi Avi Schnall, Agudath Israel’s Director of Federal Education Affairs.

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