Teachers. Parents, Board Trade Barbs at Stormy Meeting

iv

By CHARLOTTE DUBIN
There was more heat than
light shed at a meeting at-
tended by an estimated 400
parents of United Hebrew
Schools pupils Sunday morn-
ing at the Midrasha building.
Concrete action taken by
the close of the 31/2-hour
meeting was the passage of
two resolutions:
1. That the schools be re-
opened immediately and, if
necessary, unresolved issues
submitted to binding arbitra-
tion; and
2. That there be greater
representation of "lay" par-
ents on the board of directors
of the United Hebrew Schools,
including all voting privi-
leges.
At the outset of the Sunday
meeting, there was a differ-
ence of opinion as to who had
called it. There had been an
announcement the preceding
Tuesday, at a parent meet-
ing arranged by the teach-
ers. that the parents were
calling Sunday's Meeting and
were inviting Katz and other
members of the board to at-
tend.

However, two days later, in
Thursday's mail, parents re-
ceived a notice of Sunday's
scheduled meeting from
Katz, who said the board was
calling the session.
As parents were walking
into the Midrasha auditorium
Sunday morning at 9:30, they
saw a verbal battle taking
place on the stage between
Katz and Dr. Gerald Loomus,
representing the parents, as
to who would preside. Loo-
mas won, but Katz remained
seated on the stage. Halfway
through the meeting, which
.. .was punctuated frequently
with outbursts from the au-
dience, Katz made a half-hour
presentation.
Loomus pointed out that
the parents could not be-
come invol+ed in the contract
dispute but that there were
issues of economics, of the
fate of the evening session
and other matters having to
do with UHS board actions
that the parents ought to
discuss.
He and a group of parents
had met over the weekend to
draw up several resolutions
for presentation at the Sun-
day meeting. Because of the
time factor, however, not all
of the resolutions were
brought up Sunday. "We'd
like to play a constructive
role as parents and teachers.
We want our children to have
a worthwhile education," he
said.
Many parents in the audi-
ence admitted that they were
unaware of the issues that
divided administration and
teachers and insisted that
Katz give his side of the
story. But Katz stated that
he could not limit his re-
marks to the allotted 15 min-
utes. One parent angrily de-
- • nounced this as a "delaying
tactic."
In his remarks, Katz fo-
cused on the issue of teacher
evaluation, complaining that
of 240 elementary school
graduates, only 40 went on to
high school last year.
"There's something wrong
with the system when you
get that kind of thing," he
said, adding "It stinks .
Even 50 students going on to
high school (the figure from
the year before) stinks. We
need reform. People don't
want to shake up the system
if they have • vested interest
in it. I've been told that when

sow. waives," 41 44,1U) teach-

.s mei: you're' married to

that teacher until he retires
. .. Every school system has
evaluation. You ask me to
evaluate the administration:
why can't I evaluate the
teachers?"
While Katz insisted that
evaluation was the central
issue—and not arbitrable--he
cited other issues that are
"for the school board to de-
cide." These Included the
elimination of the second ses-
sion at the high school and
two UHS branches and the
closing of the Borman and
Cohn (Livonia) branches.
"Most children are being
bused anyway. Instead of
busing them on an east-west
axis, we'll bus them on a
north-south axis," he said.
Taking them to Beth Achim
may result in the loss of
"five or six, or nine or ten"
children, Katz added.

He said that the boa.-el
was forced to make these de-
cisions to keep the system
financially viable, "and the
Jewish community has given
to the UHS board the task of
running the system."

That latter fact did not sit
well with some of the par-
ents, who demanded that the
board be opened up to allow
for greater representation by
those whose children attend
the UHS.

The LUIS bylaws (Article
6, Sect. 9) provide for 48
persons to be elected to the
board at the annual meeting,
plus the presidents of congre-
gations with UlIS affiliate
branches, one representative
of each school and three
representatives of the wom-
en's auxiliary of the UHS, It
was uncertain as to who is
the "representative of each
school." The women's auxil-
iary has had a long-running
feud with the UHS, and its
leaders have not been per-
mitted to attend board meet-
ings.

Isadore Goldstein, execu-
tive secretary of the MIS.
insisted that the requirements
of the bylaws have been fol-
lowed. Both Katz and Albert
Colman pointed out that they
are parents as well as board
members.

However, Dr. Maxwell
Bardenstein, a parent who
formerly served on the board.
insisted that congregational
presidents, and even parents
who are board members,
may think quite differently
from "lay" parents. Not fi-
nancial viability, "but get-
ting a Jewish education" is
the important issue, said
Bardenstein.
'The people who are being
serviced (the UHS pupils)
should have some feedback,
through their parents, to
Federation," said Barden-
stein. "What we're asking is
a change in attitude."
Bardenstein described the
school shntdown its "a dia.

grillee to the community" for
which "we all have to take
some of the blame."

UHS membership applica-
tion blanks were circulated
at the meeting. To become a
"member" of the MIS costs
$10, in return for which the
member is entitled to attend
the annual meeting and vote
for board members. Tradi-
tionally, the latter are se-
lected by a nominating com-
mittee. The alternative meth-
od of election is by petition,
signed by 25 UHS "mem-
bers," but this method has
never been followed in Katz's
memory.
Joseph Harm president of

the Hebrew Teachers Asso-

ciation, reiterated the teach- evaluation is but one area of
ers' willingness to return to disagreement. "We teachers
school if negotiations would favor a thorough evaluation
continue. He said that if of teachers, including ten-
there were any issue the ure, as well as an evalua-
teachers could not accept at tion of administrators, by
the Monday morning ratifi- competent, professional and
cation meeting, they never- independent evaluator
Rabbi Rosenzveig cited in-
theless would be willing to
teach while that particular stances, without mentioning
issue was submitted to bind- names, of teachers who had
been promoted —or fired —
ing arbitration.
Asked, again, would the despite evaluations to the
board be amenable to this, contrary.
He argued that "the ad-
Katz replied: "You're say-
ing, 'Open the schools with- ministration wishes to get a
vehicle through which, at
out evaluation.' I say No."
Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig, will, it can make the teach-
who heads the teachers' ne- ers pawns in their hands ...
gotiating team, argued that .Last year, a teacher with a

Aid to Kin of Munich '77'

By HASKELL COHEN

(Copyright 1973, JTA, Ise.)
TEL AVIV—Israeli sports-
men are becoming more
miffed every day as they
learn and read of projects
by Americans designed to

Ecumenical Agency
to Foster Dialogue
Urged by Church VIP

NEW YORK (JTA) — The
formation of an ecumenical
agency to foster Je w 1 s h-
Christian dialogue in t h e
United States has been urged
by the board of directors of
the United Church Board for
World Ministries, overseas
missions arm of the 2,000,000-
member United Church of
Christ.
The agency would serve as
an American counterpart to
the World Council of
Churches' committee on the
Church and the Jewish
people, which has for some
years been sponsoring talks
between Jewish and Christ-
ian leaders.

It would coordinate but not
duplicate existing activities,
and would include conserva-
tive evengelicals, Unitarians
and Roman Catholics as well
as mainline Protestant de-
nominations, the board said.

In asking the directors to
recommend formation of the
agency, Rev. Dr. David M.
Stowe, executive vice presi-
dent of the United Church
Board, said concerns about
renewed Christian interest in
evangelism are "added to
deep and lingering hurts
springing from the wide-
spread refusal of Christians
to rally to the Israeli cause
at the time of the Six-Day
War in 1967," he said.
Current Jewish questioning
of Christian evangelism
"raises crucial questions for
the whole style and intent of
our work around the world,"
Dr. Stowe declared.

Druze Girl is
Granted Asylum

JERUSALEM — Israel's
ministry of the interior
granted asylum to a 20-year-
old Druze girl from a village

near Amman, who refused
to return home because her
parents wanted her to wed a

Moslem.
The girl, Aida Ismail Zu•
heib, came to Israel from
Jordan as a summer visitor
several months ago, to stay
with relatives in Beit Jann.

Israeli Druze notables took
up her case and obtained per-
mission for her to stay.
In December she celebrated
her engagement to a Druze

from the village of Daliat.el-
Ca rmel.

aid the families of the mur-
dered "11" at Munich.
What disturbs Israelis
here is that they get the im-
pression, someho w, that
our well-intentioned Ameri-
can citizens of the Jewish
faith appear to feel that only
they can come to the aid of
the widows and orphans who
were left as the result of the
Munich massacre.
In addition, the manner
in which some of these so-
called collections for mem-
bers of the heroes' families
are made disturbs the Is-
raelis to no end.
The Israelis want every-
body to know that thus far
$747,370 has been disbursed
to the 11 families. The dis-
tribution of money in Israel
is handled by the Israeli
Olympic Committee in con-
junction with other agencies
established for this prime
purpose.
For example, the Magen
David Adom is handling,
with the cooperation and aid
of the executive committee
of the Israeli Olympic Com-
mittee, the disbursement of
funds received from the Red
Cross in. Germany.
Funds of $23,810 ranging
up to $57,120 have been dis-
bursed to the families in-
volved.
In addition, the Israeli
Olympic Committee sent
tide-over funds to the fami-
lies right after the Israeli
Olympic contingent returned
from Munich.
This amount in Israeli
pounds came to IL 78,750,
which went to various mem-
bers of the different families.

I take the liberty of pre-
senting herewith the first
written record of the trans-
fer of money to families of
those who died at Munich
during the Olympic Games.
This is the first release to
any publication on the deli-
cate matter of fund disburse-
ment.

First Installment In 21. by (mer
senger)—lit column
Second Installment in $$ (via
bank)-2nd column
1 57,130
7500
Sarah Shorr
Michel Shorr
$ 23,610
(daughter)
7300
$ 57,130
Ch•n• Spitzer
Ele•nora Spitzer
$ 13210
(mother)
7500
$ 57,110
Ilans Romano
Vento & Chirly•
(p•rents)
$ 13510
Shoshan•
Sh•pera
7500
9 57,130
1111•1k• a Josef
(parent.)
$ 23,610
Martel • Chay•h
(children)
3750
Rachel Gutfreund 7500
$ 57,120
Miriam Weinberg 7500
$ 57,130
Henrietta Marks
(Mother of
Moshe Weinberg)
23,610
Shosh•n•
Shoring...
7500
$ 57,120
Cllyahu • Chana
HAIM. (Parental 7500
$ 57,130
Yis•kov & Anna
Slavin (Parents) 7500
• 17AD
Shlomo & Chana
Friedman
(Parents
7500
IP 57,130
Re•)arrstn Berger
• Tether)
5 57,131
TOTALS
71,0110 IL $747,1711

poor evaluation was pro-
moted. She was a sister of
an administrator."

As to the viability of the
Cohn and Borman branches,
"25 per cent of the students
in high school last year were
Borman and Cohn graduates,
though they total less than
10 per cent of the UHS stu-
dent population," said Rabbi
Rosenzveig.
He also suggested that the
drop in number of entrants
to high school last year
couldn't be attributed to the
teachers, "because they're
the same teachers we had
the year before. The only
change was, we had a new
administration."
Charges were exchanged
between teachers and admin-
istration on how much of the
UHS budget is spent on sal-
aries. During Rosenzveig's
recitation, Isadore Goldstein
shouted from the floor,
"You're lying!" Later, .after
Goldstein had been asked by
Loomus to explain the budg-
et, the UHS executive secre-
tary cited a different set of
figures, which Rosenzveig
called "tricky."
To the charge that the ad-
ministration is top-heavy with
personnel, Goldstein respon-
ded again, "You're lying!"
He listed eight administra-
tive positions, plus his own
and a collections department
that collects tuition payments.
Among the eight is the prin-
cinal of the Borman branch,
who also heads the Cohn
school. "If you cut out the
two branches, you'll be elimi-
nating that salary," said
Goldstein. His statement was
met with protests from some
teachers: "You'd be remov-
ing the best principal of all."
Julius Harwood, chairman
of the education committee
of the UHS and secretary of
the board, told the parents.
"The board did what Rabbi
Rosenzveig asks: We evalu-
ated the fiscal system of the
United Hebrew Schools and
decided to close Borman and
Cohn." Harwood said he was
sure the budget was open to
the public, even though par-
ents who have attempted to
check it have been denied
access.
UHS Superintendent Dr
Benjamin Yapko defended
the curriculum changes this
year, which he feels will in-
still new vigor into the sys-
tem. But, he insisted, ad-
ministrators must observe
what takes place in the class-

MOM.

Parents who head the ef-
forts to keep Borman and
Cohn branches open, Ralph
Levy (Borman) and Martin

tin Sussman (Cohn), defend-
ed the quality of education-

al their schools and the need
for them to remain open.

Israel Names 1st
S. Vietnam Envoy

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Yair
Aran, a 60-year-old German-
born
diplomat has been

named Israel's first am-
bassador to South Vietnam.
His appointment was ap-
proved by the cabinet and
will be made official after
the Saigon government for-
mally agrees to his /tombs*.
Ron.
Aran, presently the Israeli
consul general in Bombay,
was educated at Heidelberg
and at the Sorbonne.
He served for many years
as executive vice president
for administration of the
Hebrew University.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
46—Friday, Feb. 9, 1973

Shmuel Lapin,

NEW YORK (JTA) —
Shmuel Lapin, since 1966 the
executive secretary of YIVO,
the Institute for Jewish Re-
search, died Monday in
Queens after a long illness.
He was 43.

He was the son of Ber La-
pin, a Yiddish poet.

Born in New York, he was
educated at City College and
at Columbia University where
he received a masters de-
gree in comparative literature
for his thesis on the Yiddish
poets H. Leivick, Jacob Gist-
stein and Itzik Fefer.

From 1960-66 Lapin was
national director of the Labor
Zionist Farband in Canada.

As YIVO executive secre-
tary, Lapin was instrumental
in fostering the growth of the
Max Weinreich Center for •

Advanced Jewish Studies
which offers courses in Yid-
dish and East European
Jewish culture and the Uriel
Weinreich Summer Program
in Yiddish literature and cul-
ture, conducted jointly by
YIVO and Columbia Uni-
versity.

Jack Eder, 63

Jack J. Eder, former co-
owner of Dixfield Markets
and a leading volunteer
worker at Sinai Hospital,
died Monday at age 63.
Mr. Eder, 16400 N. Park,
was born in New York. lie
was a member of Brarr .--is
Lodge of Bnai Brith
Mosaic Lodge of the Masons.
He leaves his wife, Julia;
a son, Dennis of San Fran-
cisco; two daughters, Mrs.
Alfred (Arlene) Harris and
Mrs Linda Kaplan; two
sisters and four grandchil-
dren.

Jewish Leaders Stress
Need for Bilingualism
in Quebec's Schools

MONTREAL (JTA) — The
issue of whether parents
should continue to be allowed
a choice in the language of
instruction their children re-
ceive in Quebec Province
public schools was discussed
at a meeting of the Canadian
Jewish Congress' Eastern

Region here.
More than 500 CJC mem-

bers and government repre-
sentatives heard Dr. Fran-
(-false Cloutier, minister of
education of the province of
Quebec. warn that a new
law limiting the language of
instruction to French was
inevitable.
The proposed law, re-
placing the present Educa-
tion Law, would' apply only

to newcomers to the prov-
ince.

The existing population
would still be allowed a
choice between English and
French.

More than half of Canada's
Jewish population reside in
Quebec Province, and al-
though k h largely EngHsh-
■ peaking, the Importance of
Hing
sharing In the p
French culture was stressed
by Prof. Perry Melr of Mc-
of
Gill University, Ire
the CJC.
Heir warned: "If we don't
take the view that our Jew-
ish children learn to speak
and write French fluently,
then our involvement as
Canadian Jews in the public

..at Qtiebee %wilt hecaxes
uric
simply marginal."

