Teach NYS lauded the New York State Legislature’s announcement of an additional $25 million to protect nonpublic schools, daycares and cultural museums at risk of hate crimes.

In 2017, Governor Cuomo announced the creation of the New York’s Securing Communities Against Hate Crimes grant funds which awarded millions of dollars in anti-hate grants to protect nonpublic schools, daycares and cultural museums at risk of hate crimes. Teach NYS, working in partnership with coalition partners, helped create that original program as well as restore the funding in this year’s budget – adding $25 million in security funding for nonpublic schools, daycares, cultural museums and camps in 2019-2020 on top of last year’s total security allocation of $15 million which the schools also received this year.

The Orthodox Union, through its state advocacy operation Teach Coalition, has fought for security funding on the national, state and city levels and has hired full-time staff to provide direct assistance to schools and synagogues in their efforts to apply for state and federal grant funding.. 

“Together, with the support of our partners – including nonpublic schools, parents and even the students themselves – our community has raised our collective voice and advocated respectfully but forcefully for the necessary funding for our schools and children,” said Orthodox Union President Moishe Bane.

Teach NYS, a division of the Orthodox Union’s Teach Coalition, was founded in 2013 to advocate for equitable government funding for New York nonpublic schools to increase security.