DETROIT
Education Report
Continued from Page 1
responsibility for educating
Detroit's Jewish youth. AJE
would become a consortium
for these schools.
Teachers at religious
schools could consult AJE on
curriculum, teacher training
and informal community-
wide programs. AJE would
organize transportation for
students to religious school
classes and disburse scholar-
ships to needy parents.
AJE's enrollment has
dropped dramatically since
1968, when it had nearly
3,500 students and 11 school
branches. Now, it has 945
school-age students and
three branches.
Some Federation leaders
have said that without
intervention, AJE enroll-
ment would have dwindled
anyway.
"The fact is the system we
have now isn't working,"
said Robert Aronson, ex-
ecutive vice president of the
Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit.
"Jewish education is a tough
business, and clearly we
"There has been on
the part of some
Reform leaders
some
estrangement from
the whole
Federation
process."
Conrad Giles
need to change what we're
doing to stop the flow of
unaffiliated people leaving
the community."
The report, coming on the
heels of the Council of Jew-
ish Federation's national
Jewish population study,
dramatizes the Federation's
interest in finding a way to
bring unaffiliated and "at-
risk" Jews into the fold. By
suggesting a system where
synagogues and Federation
work together to attract
Jews, the local report
implicitly argues for more
shared effort —something
that has rarely occurred in
American Jewish life.
Ofra Fisher, executive di-
rector of AJE, noted that the
report praises AJE's
teachers and staff. It does,
however, say AJE, for the
funds it receives, is not
reaching unaffiliated Jews,
one of its main target
groups.
"Did we reach out? We
reached out the best we
could with the means we
had," she said.
"Personally, I feel very
satisfied with the last five
years in this agency."
14
FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 1992
Mrs. Fisher, who is leaving
the agency this May, said
anyone would be "naive" if
he thought finding a solu-
tion to Jewish assimilation
would be easy.
"We have to hope the
committee's report really
means it," she said. "You
can't give what you don't
have."
Federation leaders say
they're ready for the
challenge.
"There are no quick fixes
in this business," said Mark
Schlussel, Jewish Federa-
tion president. "This is the
most puzzling and complex
issue in the American Jew-
ish community."
Mr. Schlussel said the
report synthesized the con-
cerns not only of members of
the committee, but of edu-
cation leaders throughout
the community. In October
1990, a Federation com-
mittee led by Joel Tauber
issued a similar plan for
restructuring AJE.
Ideally, Federation leaders
say, congregations will not
only use AJE as a resource
for ideas about teaching.
They will also be par-
ticipants in the agency, con-
tributing their own experi-
ences to running the agency.
Also, AJE would be model-
ed on and integrate the in-
formal educational pro-
gramming of Jewish Experi-
ences For Families (JEFF).
"Synagogues are looking
for and need our help," said
Mr. Aronson. "We, as a Fed-
eration, have to go out there
and work in a more relevant
and useful role as educa-
tional providers."
The impact of the report on
the quality of Detroit's Jew-
ish education is still a
matter of debate. This is
largely because the report
does not say whether AJE
will be losing allocations
from Federation, how much
more money Federation will
commit to education or what
will happen to those
teachers who are now
employed by AJE.
(Mr. Schlussel said he
would appoint a committee
to handle the implementa-
tion of the report. A firm
time schedule should be
released by May of this
year.)
Two congregations — Beth
Achim in Southfield and
Adat Shalom in Farmington
Hills — rely on AJE. Any
final settlement will likely in-
volve Federation support —
financial or otherwise — to
help those congregations
form their own schools.
Also, the report en-
-16MOMpaig4rWWW
4 11A77
y or Jewish
c ould no
elementary
1 Instead,
a resource
ch.ers from
al and day
courages synagogues to take
a leading role in attracting
unaffiliated Jews into the
community.
"We're not going to make
AJE obsolete," said Mr.
Aronson. "It's not like kids
will be out without a school
to go to.
"The synagogue schools
will be open for the unaf-
filiated kids. Our goal is that
their families will join the
synagogue, but they're not
going to be left out if that
doesn't happen," said Mr.
Aronson.
In limiting AJE to basical-
ly a non-teaching role, the
report cites declining
enrollment in AJE's elemen-
tary school, success and
growth of congregational and
day schools and the feeling
of many congregation
leaders that the current
system is inequitable.
Some congregations used
where it can make the
greatest impact.
• Community funding for
education should be in-
creased significantly over
the wstgye years.
• TlitOiteration should
help nett,dy parents pay
for a Jewish education.
• Informal and formal
Jeleik..* education should
be *9
48*
.,en.tati on
be
Op a tran-
em
AJE to run their schools
while others ran their own.
"There has been on the
part of some Reform leaders
some estrangement from the
whole Federation process,"
said Dr. Giles. Although
Federation helped start an
ill-fated Reform day school,
many Reform congregations,
and some Conservative ones,
were concerned that the
bulk of Federation's edu-
cation spending was directed
at a small number of
Detroit's Jewish students.
Relative to the growth of
congregation and day
schools, AJE's drop in
enrollment led community
leaders to ask why some
congregations should benefit
from community funds while
others could not.
The primary concern was
that AJE was simply not do-
ing what it was supposed to
do: provide a place where
unaffiliated Jews could send
their children to receive a
Jewish education. Mr. Giles
said the committee conclud-
ed that without synagogue
affiliation, "a Jewish edu-
cation is useless."
"We are promoting affilia-
tion as being central to the
Jewish educational process,"
he said.
AJE stands to save about
$200,000 by not having to
run elementary school pro-
grams. Mrs. Fisher said that
money should stay with AJE
to help it set up an effective
resource center for local
teachers. Where that money
goes, however, remains
undecided.
Federation leaders said
the issue right now is con-
cept, not cash. It took almost
five years to get this idea ac-
cepted in the community.
Many expect implementa-
tion to be a long, careful pro-
cess.
"This report is not just
about spending more
money," said Neil Zalenko,
president of AJE.
Nevertheless, the report
does urge the community to
raise more funds for Jewish
education over the next five
years.
"Hopefully, this report
will create that excitement,"
said Harlene Appelman,
who served as special educa-
tional consultant to the
committee. "There's a
spotlight on it."
Mrs. Appelman said by
reducing AJE's load, the
agency will be strengthened.
Now, the opportunity for
AJE to grow and to affect
more students, she said, is
greatly improved. ❑
Pre-Primary Forum Slated
On Presidential Candidates
STAFF REPORT
ust one month before
the crucial New
Hampshire primary
for the 1992 presidential
election, Detroit's Jewish
community has many ques-
tions about the candidates.
To answer these questions,
Hakol and the Business and
Professional branches of the
Greater Detroit Section of
the National Council of Jew-
ish Women are teaming up
with the Jewish Community
Council and Congregation
Beth Achim to present "The
Critical Choice: How much
do you know about the 1992
presidential candidates?"
"During this period of
economic upheaval, some
candidates may attempt to
1611
exploit voters' fears by
resorting to scapegoating
and racism to attract votes,"
said Kathleen Straus, chair
of the Jewish Community
Council's government af-
fairs committee. "It is,
therefore, critical that voters
fully understand the can-
didates' agendas and
motivations, in order to
make a truly informed deci-
sion at the polls."
The program will feature a
panel comprising represent-
atives for Democratic and
Republican candidates vying
for the Oval Office.
Moderator for the program,
which will be held on Feb. 16
at 7:30 p.m. at Congregation
Beth Achim, will be Jewish
News Associate Publisher
Arthur Horwitz.
This is the first time the
Jewish community will host
a political forum of this na-
ture.
"We want to combat
apathy," said Hakol's Social
Action Vice President Linda
Lutz. "People need to realize
we can make a difference. To
do that, they must vote. But
to be responsible voters, they
must be informed."
Representatives from the
League of Women Voters
will be available at the pro-
gram to register voters.
Deadline to register for
Michigan's March 17 presi-
dential primary is Feb. 18.
Michigan party rules cur-
rently require voters to
declare a party preference to
vote in primaries.
There is no charge for the
program, which will include
a dessert reception. ❑
K