Sunday, December 10, 2006
Why are we investing?
In recent years there has been an explosion in the number of trans-denominational/non-denominational community schools designed to service the spectrum of the Jewish community without making any of their students feel like they were (borrowing from a phrase popularized by a dynamic Rabbi from the NY area) "not yet Orthodox." These schools have been embraced by many, but not all, Central Agencies and visionary groups, as opening the doors to a population that would not otherwise attend day schools.
Interestingly, in some communities, the local Federation was against the institution of these schools - fearing that they would drain money and students from existing schools without generating a substantive increase in enrollment.
One school, questioning why their enrollment was falling far short of their projected numbers, came to the conclusion that they were too religious, and that they could only attract students by becoming less religious. (Note: their Jewish studies component consisted of one period a day of Jewish studies plus prayer.) It's hard to know if lessening the Jewish studies will or will not increase the enrollment in the school, but even the enrollment doubles or triples in the next two years, is it worth the investment of untold millions of dollars of Jewish communal funds to pay for what amounts to Jewish private schools with minimal Jewish content?
Interestingly, in some communities, the local Federation was against the institution of these schools - fearing that they would drain money and students from existing schools without generating a substantive increase in enrollment.
One school, questioning why their enrollment was falling far short of their projected numbers, came to the conclusion that they were too religious, and that they could only attract students by becoming less religious. (Note: their Jewish studies component consisted of one period a day of Jewish studies plus prayer.) It's hard to know if lessening the Jewish studies will or will not increase the enrollment in the school, but even the enrollment doubles or triples in the next two years, is it worth the investment of untold millions of dollars of Jewish communal funds to pay for what amounts to Jewish private schools with minimal Jewish content?
Labels: community, day schools, Jewish Studies
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I think this is a very central question that needs to be asked, particularly as the novelty of the "community school" phenomenon wears off.
When parents and kids start to ask what does the "community" actually stand for, it will become clearer to all involved that the answer is "not much".
Although the truth is, with the state of US education being what it is, non affiliated parents might actually be interested in "Jewish private schools with minimal Jewish content". Hard to say.
When parents and kids start to ask what does the "community" actually stand for, it will become clearer to all involved that the answer is "not much".
Although the truth is, with the state of US education being what it is, non affiliated parents might actually be interested in "Jewish private schools with minimal Jewish content". Hard to say.
First let me say that Judaism means a lot of different things to different people. You may not realize it but these schools provide a solution for the non-Orthodox community who may have lost their religious faith but want to keep their children Jewish. We can send our kids to school with other Jewish kids, knowing that they will pick up basic Jewish literacy without worrying that they will taught things that make us feel uncomfortable. Should these schools be funded? Yes. They should be funded the same way other Jewish communal organizations are funded, whether or not they have a religious-bent since they provide a service to the community. Aren't schools services or am I that out of touch?
The presumption that Jewish community day schools, operating from a perspective of pluralism or trans-ideology, are de-facto private schools for Jewish children is canard which devalues the ideal of Jewish Peoplehood.
To be sure, there are Jewish day schools of every stripe that pursue the path of least resistance (in the example of the school in question, least Judaic content) for the pragmatic purpose of keeping the doors open, but let's make a distinction between these schools which are struggling and those which are more vibrant and let's not imagine that this is a phenomenon facing community schools alone (of course, we should likewise note the irony that the implied withholding of funds will only serve to exacerbate the situation).
Within the RAVSAK network of Jewish community day schools (we represent nearly every community day school and high school in North America), we see schools with limited Judaic contact time of 2 periods a day up to schools with a 50/50 split, and increasingly, many schools with integrated programs of study that cannot be disected so easily. There are schools where all of the boys wear tzitzit and others where all of the girls over 12 wear tefillin, and others still where matters of personal Jewish practice are determined by the home and reinforced - child by child - in the school. The number of Judaic contact hours and the specifics of what material is therein covered is influenced by many factors including the mission of the school, the needs and wants exressed by area rabbis/synagogues, demographic realities, what the head of school and Judaic studies director know and believe, the willingness of the local funding bodies to support the school during lean years, who is hired to teach (this factor is immense in smaller and more far-flung communities), and yes, what the market will bear. That is to say, community day schools tend to reflect and improve upon the local Jewish realities in which they are found. That Jewish community day schools can be seen as idiosyncratic, inconsistent, and bogged down in conversations about "too Jewish" and "not Jewish enough" is certainly in keeping with the larger sociological trend toward mix-matching and individualizing behaviors and practices historically attended as collective (denominational) norms.
To the question of whether or not Jewish community day schools warrant the support they need, I offer this thought: Most community day schools have made available and appealing a full-day Jewish educational experience to a segment of the North American Jewish community that would otherwise not participate in formal Jewish education at all while in smaller locales where day school options are not possible, satisfing the needs of the most committed core. This is no small matter in America where we may have fewer than one million Jewish children - the 30,000 Jewish students in Jewish community day schools do not represent a "novelty," they represent a notable segment of the Jewish future, most worthy and deserving of philanthropic support.
Here at RAVSAK we have the unofficial mission of making "un-funny" the old joke about the castaway who builds two shuls on his one-man desert island ("the place I daven and the place I would never dream of joining"). In some ways, this is part of the vision of Jewish Peoplehood, and by extension, the ideal vision of the Jewish community day school.
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To be sure, there are Jewish day schools of every stripe that pursue the path of least resistance (in the example of the school in question, least Judaic content) for the pragmatic purpose of keeping the doors open, but let's make a distinction between these schools which are struggling and those which are more vibrant and let's not imagine that this is a phenomenon facing community schools alone (of course, we should likewise note the irony that the implied withholding of funds will only serve to exacerbate the situation).
Within the RAVSAK network of Jewish community day schools (we represent nearly every community day school and high school in North America), we see schools with limited Judaic contact time of 2 periods a day up to schools with a 50/50 split, and increasingly, many schools with integrated programs of study that cannot be disected so easily. There are schools where all of the boys wear tzitzit and others where all of the girls over 12 wear tefillin, and others still where matters of personal Jewish practice are determined by the home and reinforced - child by child - in the school. The number of Judaic contact hours and the specifics of what material is therein covered is influenced by many factors including the mission of the school, the needs and wants exressed by area rabbis/synagogues, demographic realities, what the head of school and Judaic studies director know and believe, the willingness of the local funding bodies to support the school during lean years, who is hired to teach (this factor is immense in smaller and more far-flung communities), and yes, what the market will bear. That is to say, community day schools tend to reflect and improve upon the local Jewish realities in which they are found. That Jewish community day schools can be seen as idiosyncratic, inconsistent, and bogged down in conversations about "too Jewish" and "not Jewish enough" is certainly in keeping with the larger sociological trend toward mix-matching and individualizing behaviors and practices historically attended as collective (denominational) norms.
To the question of whether or not Jewish community day schools warrant the support they need, I offer this thought: Most community day schools have made available and appealing a full-day Jewish educational experience to a segment of the North American Jewish community that would otherwise not participate in formal Jewish education at all while in smaller locales where day school options are not possible, satisfing the needs of the most committed core. This is no small matter in America where we may have fewer than one million Jewish children - the 30,000 Jewish students in Jewish community day schools do not represent a "novelty," they represent a notable segment of the Jewish future, most worthy and deserving of philanthropic support.
Here at RAVSAK we have the unofficial mission of making "un-funny" the old joke about the castaway who builds two shuls on his one-man desert island ("the place I daven and the place I would never dream of joining"). In some ways, this is part of the vision of Jewish Peoplehood, and by extension, the ideal vision of the Jewish community day school.
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