Greenfield Calls On Yeshivos To Register Parents To Vote

Councilman David G. Greenfield called on yeshiva administrators across New York to register yeshiva parents to vote at the same time that they register their children for yeshiva. Councilman Greenfield sent a letter to administrators today stressing that yeshivas are facing tremendous economic challenges at a time when state and local governments are grappling with multi-billion dollar deficits. His letter explained that political engagement across the entire Jewish community is crucial to increasing access and resources for yeshivas during these difficult financial times.”We all agree that helping yeshivas is of the utmost importance,” said Councilman Greenfield in his letter. “Sadly, that is not reflected in the voter registration of yeshiva parents. In some yeshivas as many as half of yeshiva parents are not even registered to vote. Simply put, this sends a message to my colleagues in government that yeshiva parents don’t care about yeshivas.”

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Councilman Greenfield went on to explain that the best way to combat that false perception and have government focus on the needs of yeshivas is to increase voter registration and participation in the political process. “If every yeshiva asks every yeshiva parent to register we can literally register tens of thousands of new voters,” noted Councilman Greenfield in his letter. “That achdus will send an unmistakable message to all elected officials.”

To help facilitate this large-scale registration effort, Councilman Greenfield is partnering with TEACH-NYS, a leading educational advocacy organization committed to bringing resources back to private schools. Yosef Kanofsky, Director of Government Programs at TEACH-NYS explained, “Having worked with Councilman Greenfield in his previous capacity as a leading education advocate, I know how important the issue of education is to him. This is a terrific idea and an exciting opportunity for yeshivas to increase their engagement with every level of government in order to advance the priorities of our yeshiva community,” said Kanofsky.

Councilman Greenfield is requesting that yeshiva administrators add a question to their registration form, simply asking if parents are registered to vote. If the parents are not registered to vote, they will be encouraged to return the voter registration forms attached to their yeshiva enrollment forms. Via this simple method, thousands of yeshiva parents can register to vote.

“In these difficult financial times, yeshivas can not afford to have unregistered parents sitting on the sidelines,” Greenfield concluded.

{Matzav.com Newscenter}