DETROIT
Is Religion In The Schools
An Issue in Monday's Election?
KIMBERLY LIFTON
Staff Writer
T
he issue of religious
celebration in the
schools once again has
surfaced in Monday's six-
candidate race for two
Bloomfield Hills School
Board seats.
One candidate — Bruce
Budde, a sales engineer with
IBM — is campaigning for
community values. A letter
sent out to voters from a
newly-formed parent group
states that a few other can-
didates "may not share our
vision of what is best for our
children."
Although Mr. Budde said
he is not an advocate of
prayer in school, he has
stated in campaign litera-
ture and during a candidates
forum: "Christmas and
Chanukah are worldwide
celebrations full of happy
emotions, family sharing,
loving and a time of peace.
While our community is en-
joying the festivities, in our
public schools not even the
word Christmas crosses the
lips. Does this reflect our
Judeo-Christian community
values?"
Other candidates said they
oppose any prayer or re-
ligious celebration in the
schools, but the subject has
aroused concern for some
who fear the issue may be a
hidden agenda for a few of
the candidates.
Prayer in the schools is not
new to Bloomfield Hills. The
subject first triggered inter-
est when the Taxpayers
Organization to Restore
Cultural Heritage (TORCH)
began lobbying at the end of
1988 for Christmas celebra-
tions in school.
A TORCH resolution ad-
vocating Christmas celebra-
tions died — and the group
since has disbanded. But
that hasn't put parents at
ease.
"We are concerned that
church and state is going to
be an issue," parent Mindy
Nathan says. "When can-
didates use rhetoric like
`back to basics,' then we get
concerned about some of
these issues.
"It sends out red flags to
many of us in the Jewish
community and we wonder
what else they have on the
agenda. We remember
TORCH."
In a letter mailed to those
who voted in the 1989 school
14
FRIDAY, JUNE 7, 1991
board election when
Christmas in the schools
came to the forefront, the
concerned parent group
identified Sharon Tosch, the
only incumbent running, as
their candidate of choice.
"Two candidates are runn-
ing on a ticket, funded by a
person who is a known sup-
porter of private education,"
the letter states. "Their plat-
form includes general
statements about opera-
tional management, as well
as promoting educational
excellence by getting 'back
to basics' with instruction."
The two candidates cam-
paigning together are
William Furr, an ad-
ministrator for the General
Motors Technical Education
Program, and Barry Smith,
chief executive officer for
ValueRx Pharmacy Pro-
gram Inc.
Each stated publicly he is
opposed to prayer in school.
Their joint literature states
the Smith-Furr ticket is
dedicated to four items, the
Some are worried
by the "back to
basics" phrase.
first being the promotion of
excellence.
"We must prepare our
children for a world of
challenges by getting back
to basics with academics,"
their literature states. They
also address issues of sound
fiscal management, respon-
sible operational manage-
ment and board respon-
siveness to the community.
Others running for the two
positions are: Stephen
Harris, an attorney; and
Debbie Macon, a financial
consultant. Ms. Tosch says
the board must continue to
be forward and open to new
ways of teaching. Ms. Macon
says decision-makers at all
levels of government must
be advocates for kids.
Mr. Harris believes the
board must take a leader-
ship role in convincing the
state that current funding is
"simply inadequate. We
must help set the course,
rather than merely play the
hand we are dealt."
An Oakland County school
districts will hold elections
on Monday. Another city
with a large Jewish presence
and a heated race is West
Bloomfield, where voters
will be asked to give the
district the right to levy an
additional 2.3 mills. Last
year, the State of Michigan
took money from wealthier
districts.
Two seats are open in West
Bloomfield.
Without the millage, the
school district will face $4.4
million in budget cuts,
automatically reducing
transportation, student ser-
vice centers, bilingual ser-
vices, athletics, a gifted pro-
gram for elementary
students at Roosevelt School
and a fine arts program at
the middle school level.
Also cut will be the string
music program. The writing
lab, radio station, library
services and reading con-
sultants will be cut at the
high school. Fifty teachers
would be eliminated and
classes would become larger.
School board officials say
even if the millage passes,
they must cut at least $3
million in services. About
150 employees already have
been laid off.
Supporting the millage are
candidates Joel Hersh, a 24-
year-old lumber salesman
and a political newcomer
who says schools must
become more specialized; Dr.
Avery Murav, a dentist, who
ran unsuccessfully for school
board in 1988; Karen
Isgrigg; Janet McCluelland;
and Jeffrey Stewart.
Opposing the millage are
candidates James Talpos
and Bruce Tobin.
In Southfield, the race for
one open four-year board
position is relatively quiet.
School Board President
Steven Kaplan is vying to
keep his seat.
Serving on the board since
1987, Mr. Kaplan is calling
for a magnet high school
where advanced educational
programming would be
available for top students.
"This would attract people
to Southfield," Mr. Kaplan
says. "If Southfield schools
would have a magnet, it may
attract more Jewish families
to Southfield and convince
other families to remain in
Southfield."
Opposing Mr. Kaplan are
Larry Wright Sr., Anita
Barratt, Eugene Cheek and
Vanessa Thrasher.
In Oak Park, five can-
didates are vying for two,
four-year terms. They are
Leslie Biederman, Tarrell
Connor, Robert Lake, San-
dra Rofkind and Stephen
Sawilowsky.
❑
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Is 'back
to basics' a
buzz word?
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10, 74074
Peace Activist Urges
Territory For Peace
AMY J. MEHLER
Staff Writer
M
ark Rosenblum's vi-
sion for peace bet-
ween Israel and its
Arab neighbors calls for
more than the traditional
exchange of territory.
He, along with other Peace
Now activists, believes it's
one part of a four-step ap-
proach that can bring about
a second peace and prevent a
seventh Israeli war.
Dr. Rosenblum, who is the
political director of Ameri-
cans for Peace Now, suggests
that territory for security,
territory for aliyah and
emigration, territory for
democracy and territory for
economic development are
better terms. He said these
should become the new
slogans of Shalom Achshav,
the Peace Now movement.
Dr. Rosenblum, who
teaches history at Queens
College in New York and
and is the Middle East Pro-
ject director of the Harr-
ington Center at City Uni-
versity, spoke last week at
Temple Emanu-El in Oak
Park. He was invited by the
temple's social action com-
mittee and by the Greater
Detroit Jewish Coalition for
Peace in the Middle East.
The coalition, which in-
cludes representatives of the
Labor Zionist Alliance,
Americans for a Progressive
Israel, Workmen's Circle
and New Jewish Agenda,
recognizes the Palestinian
people's right to national
self-determination, in-
cluding the possibility of an
independent state, and ad-
vocates direct Israeli
negotiations with the
Palestine Liberation Organ-
ization.
Dr. Rosenblum, who was
in Israel visiting family dur-
ing the Gulf war, described
what he sees as the three
dominant political camps in
Israel.
"There's the generation of
1967, whom I call the
Mashiach Achshav, or
Mashiach Now," Dr.
Rosenblum said. "They as-
cribe to the not-one-inch
philosophy, which stems
from an ideological com-
mitment to the whole land of
Israel.
"Then there's the Shalom
Achshav (Peace Now)
movement, established in
1977 after the miraculous
peace between Egypt and
Israel. The last group is
what I call non-ideological
hawks, or hawks of fear."
Dr. Rosenblum said
they're hawkish because
they're afraid of the Arabs
but not because they don't
necessarily identify polit-
ically with the philosophy of
Mashiach Achshavniks.
He said "hawks of fear"
make up about 40 percent of
Israeli society and represent
a critical mass in Israel. He
called them the swing con-
stituency that will deter-
mine the outcome of the next
Israeli election.
Dr. Rosenblum said this
group is of two minds.
"On one side, they're
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