Higher Sala!), Increments, Fringe Benefits Included in Hebrew Teachers' New Contract The United Hebrew Schools and the Association of Hebrew Teach- ers announcd that a satisfactory conclusion has been reached in their negotiations for a new two- year contract, which became effec- tive Sept. 1. "The new contract is a major step forward in the professionali- zation of Hebrew teachers in De- troit," reported Robert Kasle, Chairman of the UHS personnel committee. The salary scale adopt- ed provides for a proportionately greater salary increment for those teachers who teach 20 hours per week to encourage more teachers to achieve the 20-hour status. In an attempt to further- develop the pro- fessional status of the Hebrew school teacher, the following state- ment of aim was included in the contract: "It shall be the policy of the United Hebrew Schools to estab- lish conditions for the development of a professional Hebrew school teaching corps. Accordingly, a committee, consisting of the board, administration, association and all schools and parties affected by such a program, shall be establish- ed to consider the feasibility and implementation of such a plan". Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig, IMI■0■ ••e”mmilar). ■ president of the Association of Hebrew Teachers, noted that substantial salary increments were achieved over the past scale, but with the new feature of a three-level scale, with greatest benefits going to the 20- hour teacher. In addition, a sab- batical leave program was ap- proved and scheduled, sick leave provisions for teachers were increased, and additional avenues of communication ex- panded between the association and the board of the United He- brew Schools. Additional benefits New Quarterly Review Published in Israel Orot, a new quarterly review, is being published in Israel.' Featuring Hebrew literary mate- rial, the new. journal, published by the Depar,tment for Education and Culture in t h e Diaspora, Jeru- salem, contains the English trans- lations_ on opposite pages with the Hebrew. This literary collection, contain- ing essays, narratives and poems, is of value to students of Hebrew who are enabled to enrich their Hebrew vocabulary by reading Orot. 04111 ■0■ 0•IMiliMIHI ■ 0011.1•0 ■ 041•1•10 ■0■0•■0■0■ 04•ME ■ M Boris Smolar's 'Between You . and Me' (Copyright 1968, JTA Inc.) THE SCHOOL SEASON: The new school year starts under the shadow of apprehension that a further decline in the enrollment in Jewish schools in this country may take place, especially in the afternoon schools. The attendance in Jewish schools has fallen from 600,000 in previous years to 540,000 in the school year just concluded. This is a substantial decline. All indications point to the possibility that during the new school year the number of pupils in all types of Jewish schools—with the exception perhaps of the all-day schools— will go further down. Four reasons are seen as factors leading to the decline in the number of pupils in the afternoon schools. One of the major reasons is the reorganization which is now taking place in the general public school system in the larger cities. Jewish families—like many of their non-Jewish neighbors who do not want to be involved in racial issues —are moving to the suburbs where the public school problem is not so acute. They may find there a Jewish Sunday school but no after- noon school. And most of them are not interested enough to establish an afternoon school. Thus, their children who attend such a school in the city are lost to afternoon school education. Another reason for the anticinated dwindling in the enrollment in the schools is the decline in Jewish birth rate. The results of this decline were felt last year both in the Sunday schools and in the afternoon schools. A third reason is the growing indifference to Jewish education of their children on the part of the second and third genera- tions of American-born parents. Then comes the fourth reason—the critical shortage in qualified Jewish teachers. While the Sunday schools where Jewish education is minimal can function with less qualified teachers, this cannot be the case with the afternoon schools which attempt to give the pupils more extended Jewish instruction. ,* * WORLD CENSUS: The crisis in Jewish education in the United States was the subject of discussion a few weeks ago at a conference of the World Council on Jewish Education held in Geneva, Switzer- land. The results of a world census on Jewish education—the first such census ever to be taken—were presented at the conference by Dr. Azriel Eisenberg, noted American Jewish educator, and the picture that emerged was gloomy. The census established that in terms of the number of children attending all types of Jewish schools, the United States comes next to Israel and second in the world. There were 631,500 children of school age attending Jewish schools in Israel last year, and there were 540,000 pupils of the same age in Jewish schools in the United States. The world census on Jewish education also shows that in the rest of the world outside of Israel and the United States—in Western European countries, Latin American countries, Canada, South Africa, Australia, and in Moslem lands—there are fewer than 200,000 Jewish children today receiving a Jewish education at a time when the number of Jewish children of school age there is twice as much. Even in Canada only 48 per cent of the entire Jewish school population is attending Jewish schools. With Israel and the United States showing in the census a joint attendance of more than 1,171,000 pupils—out of the total of 1,300,000 reported enrolled in all Jewish schools of the free world—it is obvious that the American Jewish community must display a much greater responsibility in promoting Jewish education than it does. As one of the two pillars on which Jewish education in the world stands today, American Jewry must come to the realization that mere talking about the need to strengthen Jewish education in this country is not enough. American Jewish leaders must at least become aware of the fact that the immediate future of the Jewish afternoon schools naw hangs in the balance. They must act urgently to remedy the situation. for a master's degree were agreed upon. In a further attempt to develop the professional Hebrew school teacher and to eliminate as much as possible those teachers who cannot participate fully in the in- service training programs and co- curricular activities which are ex- pected of the Hebrew school teach- er, newly hired staff in the future will be eligible for fringe benefits, tenure, etc., only if they are fully- participating teachers and provid- ing such teachers at the end of three years have permanent He- brew teaching certificates issued by the Detroit Board of License. Included in the contract are the continuation Of the broad spectrum of fringe benefits which teachers of the United He- brew Schools had in the past. These include: participation in the Jewish Welfare Federation pension program, a sickness and accident wage indemnity pro- gram (providing 75 per cent of salary for 28 weeks in the event of an illness or accident), a sub- stantial life insurance policy, full family Blue Cross or Com- munity Health Association prem- ium payments, as well as partici- pation- in the Social Security program. Members of the personnel corn- mittee of the United Hebrew Schools under the chairmanship of Robert Kasle are: Milton Lucow, Gordon Ginsberg, Dr. Benjamin L. Yapko, UHS associate superin- tendent, and Isadore J. Goldstein, UHS executive secretary. Menahem Glaser and Joseph Baras, with Rabbi Rosenzveig, comprised the committee members for the Hebrew Teachers Associa- tion. THE DETROIT- JEWISH NEWS - Friday, September 13, 1968-9 Current Housing Shortage Puts Damper on Aliya TEL AVIV (ZINS)—The Jewish Agency is forced to reject applica- tions of would-be settlers due to an acute housing shortage in Israel, declared Leon Dultzin, executive member of the World Zionist Or- ganization, Because of this situation, which exists particularly in Jerusalem, he stated, only 3,200 immigrants from America were processed this year instead of the 5,000 who ap- plied. However, he forecast that about 40,000 immigrants from various countries will be accommodated in 1969. Current Jewish Agency debts amount to $300,000,000, but it is safely assumed they will not be increased. We didn't think `Barefoot in the Park' was so funny. 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