At the annual conference of the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education in Baltimore last week, the executive director of the Avi Chai Foundation, Yossi Prager, announced two new partnerships the foundation has forged to help the day school field. Avi Chai, which will spend down nearly $700 million over the next 10 years, is perhaps the most important player in the day school movement.
The foundation is working with PEJE to stimulate school endowment growth and with Yeshiva University to help schools use comparative data and coaching to reduce costs and increase revenues, Prager said.
It is also looking for financial partners to join it in undertaking a major public policy effort to increase government funding for day schools in New York and New Jersey, where the majority of U.S. day school students live.
Prager invited the public to help Avi Chai reevaluate the future of day schools along with the foundation as it attempts to figure out the mose effective way to spend down its money.
