Stephen S. Wise Temple Education Advocacy Group Joins Rabbi Stern for Meeting with Mayor Villaraigosa

Laurie Bahar, Allison Goodman, Diane Kabat, Barbara Margolis, Bill Kleiman, Zita Fortman, and Judy Niver joined the mayor and representatives from eight congregations of all faiths for a frank conversation about education with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. All participants were members of the LA Voice/PICO organizing community. At the meeting, Rabbi Stern spoke about the Talmudic principle that the world is sustained by the breath of children as the inspiration for our advocacy for public education. Laurie Bahar told the mayor about the difficult decision not to enroll her children in public Middle and High School and the reasons for that decision. Other congregational leaders spoke of their own difficulties with LAUSD. The mayor responded to their words and told of his own commitment to improving our public schools. He spoke movingly about his own mother and the priority that she placed on education and the result it had on his highly successful family. He noted the importance of people from the West Side of Los Angeles (our synagogue and members of IKAR) reaching out to join forces with those from the east and south sides of the city to tip the scales of reform in the right direction. We are proud to be participants in this important effort and recognize that as members of LA Voice we are making a powerful statement about our partnership with our entire city for the betterment of Los Angeles.