As a follow up to our Legislative Forums in January for Maryland state legislators as part of the Maryland Nonpublic Schools Legislative Coalition, OU staff and community leaders were in Annapolis today for the Coalition’s Legislative Reception and Advocacy Day.

IPA Deputy Director Howie Beigelman and IPA Legislative Fellow Ari Lustig both braved the weather to meet with elected officials and push for parity and fairness for non-public schools. On the agenda were restoring cut funding for textbooks, including non-public school teachers in the state’s training tax credit and enacting BOAST, a program for corporate tax credits encouraging the business community to invest in local schools – both public and non-public. Modeled on successful programs like the one in Pennsylvania, the program would be a win win for all.

Howie and Ari visited most of the Montgomery County Senate Delegation’s offices. As well, at the luncheon, Howie was able to briefly speak with Senator Simonaire and Senator Mooney, both of whom recognized Howie from two weeks ago when he testified in front of the both the House and Senate Committees on Judicial Proceedings regarding the ‘Get‘ bill.

Senator Mooney was glad to see that we proved a point – that there is great diversity in the non-public school community as evidenced by the lineup of speakers, which included a student at an Annapolis area Christian school and Rabbi Hershel Lutch of the Torah School of Greater Washington.