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As educators struggle to control expenditures,
tuition continues to climb at area day schools.
JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR STAFF WRITER
F
or years, parents of Hillel cut costs and keep tuition af- for the wealthiest families.
Day School students suf- fordable.
Moderate-income families
fered through tuition in-
"We have tried very hard in paid $6,550.
creases, some nearly 20 keeping those costs down," he
In a letter to parents, Dr.
percent. Although they grumbled said.
Borofsky explained it this
and groaned through each one,
Leaders say the brunt of the way: "Tuition equals actual
they continued to send their kids, cost is in attracting and keeping expenses (less tuition sub-
continued to fork over the mon- talented teachers, what educa- sidy programs) divided by
ey.
tors call their "greatest resource." the projected number of stu-
This year, very few - if any -
Rabbi Karmi Gross of Akiva dents to create a balanced
are making a peep about the said pay increases for teachers budget."
rates, due in part to only a small generally exceed the rise in the
The difference between
increase in tuition for the 1997- annual cost of living.
the actual cost of educating
98 school year of $150, for a total
"Many teachers' raises are be- a child and the price of tu-
of $7,300 or $6,700, depending on yond 2 percent," he said. "They ition is also apparent at
income.
would be insulted if they got 2 Yeshiva Beth Yehudah.
In addition, the school insti- percent. That is seen as a slap in Most of the students rely on
tuted a family policy which allows the face for a teacher.
scholarship assistance to pay
a 5 percent discount on tuition for
"For a good teacher that you tuition. The average Yeshi-
more than two students.
really want to keep, you are talk- va family has five children in
Dr. Marcy Borofsky, president ing up to 10 percent," he said.
the school and a family in-
of the school's board of directors,
And tuition, educators say, is come of $35,000.
noted Hillel's ability to keep tu- not the total cost of educating a
Yet the school has not
ition increases to an average of 2 child. For example, in the 1996- only bridged the gulf between
percent per year for the past four 97 school year at Hillel, the total tuition payments and budget to-
years.
budget was $5,154,000 for edu- tal but has also successfully
"It has been an important goal cating 690 students, a cost per reined in tuition increases in the
of both the administration and child of $7,470. Tuition, howev- past few years. For example,
the lay leadership to stabilize tu- er, topped out at $7,150 per child TUITION page 22
ition," she wrote recently in
a letter to parents. "We are
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit Allocations
proud as we reflect on these
fear
Hillel
Akiva
past four years as proof of
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah
this accomplishment."
1992-93
$273,000
$197,000
$270,000
However, Hillel's 2 per-
1993-94
299,000
200,000
300,000
cent increase this year is an
1994-95
339,000
240,000
340,000
anomaly for most area day
1995-96
374,000
275,000
390,000
schools. Over the past five
1996-97
414,000
305,000
435,000
years, tuition at local day
schools has constantly Tuition at Yeshiva Beth Yehudah
risen, keeping up with or
Year
Elementary
Upper School
surpassing the national
1992-93
$3,500
$3,700
rate of inflation.
1993-94
3,750
3,950
According to the Bureau
1994-95
4,150
4,350
of Labor Statistics, inflation
1995-96
4,200
4,475
has ranged from a high of 1996-97
4,275
4,725
4.6 percent in 1991 to a low
of 2.6 percent in 1994. Last Tuition at Akiva
year, the figure was 3 per-
Year
Kindergarten
1:0:6
9-12
Bldg.
and
cent.
1992-93
$2,400
$3,250
$3,675
$4,100
School officials and lay
$1,250
1993-94
2,600
3,300
3,775
4,400
leaders defend the annual
1,250
3,000
1994-95
3,500
4,000
4,700
1,500
tuition increases, attribut-
3,000
3,700
4,200
4,900
1,300
ing them to the rising cost 1995-96
1996-97
3,400
4,300
4,850
5,650
1,000
of educating a child.
1997-98
3,400
4,575
5,175
6,000
1,000
"We see a disparity in
what our budget is and the
amount of money we need Tuition at Hillel
Year
to cover it," said Maury El-
Tier one
Tier Iwo
lenberg, chairman of the
1992-93
$5,300
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah
1993-94
5,700
board of directors.
1994-95
6,800
$6,100
He added that the school
1995-96
6,900
6,200
has gone through major re-
1996-97
7,150
6,550
structuring in the past five
1997-98
7,300
6,700
years and has laid off work-
* M 1992-93 and 1993-94, the Iwo-tier system was not in place.
ers and reassigned tasks to
When Green Sees Red
Last year, Ruth Matar came here backing
Netanyahu. This year, she questions his
leadership.
PHIL JACOBS EDITOR
PH OTO BY JOHN M. D ISCHER
Counting The Cost
I
t was almost exactly a year the Nazi occupation when she
ago that Ruth Matar visited was a child. Its members, wear-
Detroit.
ing green hats, actively hit the
The issues on the table streets in protest when they see
were what she saw as then- what they perceive as injustice
Prime Minister Shimon Peres' against Israel.
giveaway of Israeli security and
"I really try to give a message
territory to the Palestinians. of hopefulness when I speak,"
Mrs. Matar was outspoken said Mrs. Matar. "I want to
about civil rights violations leave people with the thought
against Jews in Israel. She that we can do things for the
pressed on the urgency of sup- positive. But I think people
porting Bibi Netanyahu as Is- don't realize how bad things are
rael's hope for the future.
in Israel. They need to hear the
This year, the eloquently out- truth, and they often aren't get-
spoken leader of Women in ting it in the media here. But
Green addressed a Monday it's not such a surprise because
evening Jewish Community the Israeli media isn't provid-
Center audience of 130. The is- ing information either."
sue of giving land and se-
Last year, Mrs. Matar
curity away had not
Ruth Matar spoke mostly about the
changed in a year. But talks w ith Toby violence she said was
her tune on Mr. Ne-
Schl ussel
happening against any
tanyahu had become before Monday Jew who protested
even ing's
critical and angry.
against government ac-
eve nt.
Mrs. Matar addressed
tions to give West Bank
the largely sympathetic
towns to the Palestini-
audience after showing a dra- ans.
matic video capturing Pales-
This time around, Women in
tinian leader Yassir Arafat Green is back on the streets,
calling for Jerusalem's role as she said, because of the inde-
the capital of a Palestinian cision and the wavering of Mr.
state. The film also document- Netanyahu.
ed Palestinian violence against
"Bibi inherited a terrible
Jews. It was produced by West mess," she said. "However, we
Bloomfield resident Molly need a strong leader to take us
Resnick, who also coordinated into the future. Like [President
Monday's presentation.
Harry] Truman said, 'If you
Women in Green, also called can't stand the heat, get out of
Women for Israel's Tomorrow, the kitchen."'
has 20 U.S. chapters. The po-
Mrs. Matar said the strong
litically conservative group was Bibi she supported last year has
founded in 1993 by Mrs. Matar,
buckled under to the pressure
a native of Austria who escaped GREEN SEES RED page 22
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