The day after a 27-20 vote in the House Education & Workforce Committee to remove school choice provisions from federal education legislation, the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, through it Institute for Public Affairs, expressed its disappointment with the Committee’s action.

Union Institute director, Nathan Diament, issued the following statement:

The Orthodox Jewish community is disappointed by the House Education committee’s vote to remove all school choice provisions from H.R.1 and thus remove the prospects for parents whose children are in failing schools from receiving relief in the near term. By even removing the proposal that would have allowed for school choice demonstration programs, opponents have shown that they do not wish to even allow experimentation with school choice, lest the results be too successful. This vote is indeed unfortunate.

At the same time, there are many worthwhile provisions of this legislation and it ought to move forward. The UOJCA intends to work with members of the House and the Senate in the coming days to explore other avenues for empowering parents to guide the education of their children.