March 6, 2009

To Members of the U.S. Senate:

We write to you on behalf of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America – the nation’s largest Orthodox Jewish umbrella organization, to urge you to maintain funding for the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program in the omnibus spending bill.

Providing education that is appropriate and beneficial to each individual child has been a Jewish priority for centuries; this is why our organization supports the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has expressed his support for the program as well.

As the omnibus bill stands, this important and long-standing program will be eliminated. Senators Ensign and DeMint have recently introduced amendment #615 that will preserve an additional year of funding for this important program.

We ask you to vote for the Ensign/DeMint amendment.

Sincerely,

Rabbi Tzvi H. Weinreb
Executive Vice President

Nathan Diament
Director, Public Policy