U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos commended Orthodox Jewish schools during her meeting with Agudath Israel Wednesday. She acknowledged the community as setting a great example for public education in America and also expressed willingness to work with their leaders.
Devos met the group in Washington through an arrangement with a long-time friend from Agudath Israel. She sat with over 50 members in a conference room, as revealed in the photos from The Yeshiva World. DeVos and the leaders discussed school choice, school security, special education and higher education among Jewish colleges, according to Hamodia.
Agudath Israel grants scholarships to deserving Jewish students who want to attend private schools. The organization has operations in 25 states in the U.S. aside from around the world.
The meeting also enabled DeVos to receive support for its school choice plan under President Donald Trump. Agudath Israel leaders said they will work with DeVos on this matter once Congress passes a good school choice program.
"I applaud Agudath Israel for their leadership and commitment to providing their community with access to educational options that meet the academic and religious needs of their families," DeVos said in a statement released after the meeting, Israel National News reported. The secretary also stated she's looking forward to working with the community of Jews to pursue "equal opportunity to a quality education."
Rabbi A. D. Motzen, the group's national leader, thanked DeVos for the opportunity to discuss education issues with DeVos. "The Secretary has an impressive familiarity with our community and the educational challenges we face," Motzen said. "For an entire hour, she was fully engaged in discussing possible avenues to addressing those challenges."
Motzen also said he is hopeful that the discussion will bear good results for many years. DeVos has been in support of Orthodox Jewish schools even before she became the Education Secretary.
