For Gov. Larry Hogan, it was a moment to cherish and always remember.
“I can’t think of anyplace I’ve ever been where I’ve received such an incredible welcome,” Hogan said while standing before hundreds of enthusiastically clapping high school students at Bais Yaakov School for Girls in Mount Washington.
The governor came to Bais Yaakov last Tuesday, Dec. 13, to talk about his recent trade mission to Israel; the ways the BOOST (Broadening Options and Opportunities for Students Today) scholarship program enables school choice to be available for Maryland families in need; and to make a major news announcement about BOOST to the assembled students, faculty and parents.
Also in attendance were students from other Jewish day schools in the greater Baltimore metropolitan area.
Visiting a small classroom just before his presentation at an assembly, Hogan talked about the strong bond between Maryland and Israel.
“Maryland and Israel have a long and great relationship,” he said. “We are steadfast friends of Israel. We went to Israel because we wanted to create more opportunities among Maryland and Israeli companies.
“During my trip, I visited several cyber security and high-tech companies, and we went to hospitals and several universities,” Hogan said. “My time at Yad Vashem [Israel’s national Holocaust museum and memorial] was among the most moving experiences of my life, and I got to pray and slip a piece of paper into the Western Wall. It was a fantastic trip, and one that I will never forget.”
One student asked Hogan about what he thought of the current political climate in the United States in the aftermath of the divisive presidential election.
“There are some people in both parties who are too partisan, who like to fight for no reason,” said the governor. “I’m a consensus builder. I’m all about finding ways to build consensus and create compromise.
“People seem to be happy where Maryland’s government is heading,” he said. “I’m a strange anomaly since I’m only the second Republican governor in the past 50 years, and more than two-thirds of both legislatures are Democrats.”
Another student asked Hogan how he felt Marylanders are reacting to his executive order directing public schools to delay the start of classes next year until after Labor Day.
“For 150 years, most schools in Maryland and in the country started after Labor Day,” Hogan said. “Then in Maryland, public schools gradually changed, adding from 12 to 16 union days to take off during the year. But almost everyone didn’t like ending the summer early and starting school before Labor Day.
“The legislature decided to look into this, and the previous governor, Martin O’Malley, appointed a task force that spent about a year doing research and gathering information,” he said. “They voted 14 to 2 to start school after Labor Day. Governor O’Malley didn’t get a chance to enact it, and the legislature continued to fail to act on it. So when I got into office, I just did it anyway. Now, 80 percent of the people in the state love it.”
At the assembly, Bais Yaakov High School Principal Rabbi Yechezkel Zweig praised Hogan for “providing millions of dollars to hard-pressed and financially overwhelmed Maryland families in the form of tuition relief.”
Rabbi Michoel Berkowitz, a Judaics studies teacher at the Talmudical Academy of Baltimore, concurred, “I know of at least one family that before BOOST, they kept the thermostat at 60 degrees all night to save a few dollars for Jewish school,” he told the audience. “Now these and many other Jewish families have children in cutting-edge education, combined with religious tradition that goes back many thousands of years.”
During his short presentation at the assembly, Hogan praised the Jewish community and its history of educational excellence in Maryland.
“Our thriving Jewish community means so much to the fabric of our state,” he said. “And our administration has made education our top priority, so we have provided record funding for education. We are working hard to ensure that every single child in Maryland is given a chance for a great education, regardless of their family’s’ financial circumstances.
“That’s why last year we were proud to fund the BOOST education program with $5 million,” Hogan said. “We held a statewide application process, and as a result of the efforts of the Jewish community, nearly 700 students received approximately $1 million.”
The BOOST program was enacted to give low-income families the opportunity to choose the best educational options –public and private — for their children.
“We are happy and proud to provide funding for these deserving students,” the governor said. “But there are many more students needing help. So this afternoon, I am pleased to announce that next month, I will introduce legislation so that the BOOST program increases from $5 million to $10 million over the next three years.”
After receiving a standing ovation from the audience, Hogan said, “I knew I came to the right audience.”
To thank Hogan for the visit, Bais Yaakov students presented the governor with a copy of the book, “Out of the Depths: The Story of a Child of Buchenwald Who Returned Home at Last,” by Rabbi Israel Mayer Lau, a former chief rabbi of Israel.
Pete Arnold is an Olney, Md.-based freelance writer.
Photos by Zephan Blaxberg
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