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FEW SPACES REMAINING
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An international study says Hebrew school enrollment is declining.
r
JULIE WIENER
StaffWriter
first, the bad news.
Numbers compiled by
the Hebrew University's
Institute for Contemporary
Jewry and the Joint Authority for
Jewish/Zionist Education indicate
that only 45 percent of American
Jewish schoolchildren are enrolled in
any form of Jewish education pro-
gram, a 12 percent drop from 1987.
The good news is the numbers may
be misleading. And there is a percep-
tion — in Detroit and nationwide —
that Jewish educa-
tion is actually
improving.
While only 45
percent of Jewish
children are
enrolled in reli-
gious school at any
one time, close to
80 percent receive
some Jewish educa-
tion between
kindergarten and
high school gradu-
ation, says Leora
Isaacs, director of
research and evalu-
ation at the Jewish
Education Service
of North America.
"The different
movements have
different rules
about the number of years of school
required before the bar mitzvah, and
parents have a choice as to how many
years they will send children and
whether their children will continue
after bar mitzvah," said Isaacs. At
any point in time, only a subset of
potential school-age kids are enrolled
in Jewish education. It's a revolving
door."
Isaacs adds that it is difficult to tell
whether the numbers truly represent
a decline since reliable data is not
available from the past. However,
while the numbers may distort the -
truth, Isaacs concedes that Hebrew
schools need to do a better job of
recruiting and retaining students.
"Many kids are not enrolled up to
their full potential, and the fact that
there is a revolving door is problemat-
ic," she said.
While complete statistics are not
available, local educators and admin-
istrators speculate that Detroit enroll-
ment figures have remained steady
over the past decade and may even be
higher per capita than the national
average. In fact, post-b'nai mitzvah
enrollment has grown slightly in
recent years and day school- enroll-
ment has soared.
Ellen Krivchenia, the Agency for
Jewish Education's administrative
manager, provided partial enrollment
According to numbers provided by
the AJE, enrollment in synagogue
high schools has increased from 974
in 1993-94 to 1,209 this year.
Rabbi Danny Nevins, who is Adat
Shalom's director of education as well
as one of its pulpit rabbis, speculated
that the picture is better in Detroit
than other American communities. "I
don't think those statistics reflect
Detroit, which tends to have higher
affiliation rates than in the South and
West, but that's my impression," he
said. Adat Shalom's current enroll-
ment is 356, and figures from 10
years ago were not available.
An ardent
UnggF7',:i
5 supporter of day
0 schools, Nevins
was not sure
rt' what could be
8
done to attract
more children to
afternoon
schools. But he
says synagogue
schools have
improved consid
erably, despite
structural chal-
lenges of dealing
with children
after a long day
of secular school.
"Hebrew
school has
changed a lot in
the past decade,
with a move to
figures for 1997-98, but was unable
Nationally, only
interactive and
to provide data from 10 years ago.
45 percent of
not as much rote
Randie Levin, assistant director of Jewish children
learning. My
receive religious
the planning department of the
sense going into
schooling.
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
our classrooms
Detroit, estimates that between 5,000
is that kids are
and 6,000 children are currently
really learning substance and enjoying
enrolled in Detroit area supplemen-
it."
tary schools. In addition, 2,050 chil-
Shoshana Ben-Ozer, Beth
dren attend Jewish day schools.
Shalom's director of education, said
"Forty-five percent sounds low,"
she was not at all surprised by the 45
said Levin. "If we have 96,000 Jews
percent statistic. The key to reversing
and 6,000 kids are in religious
the trend, she said, is personal
schools plus those in day schools, it
involvement with the family and stu-
sounds like more to me. I think
dent.
enrollment has stayed steady, but it
"Otherwise they get frustrated and
looks like the number staying after
then they leave," she said. Beth
bar and bat mitzvah has increased a
Shalom's enrollment is 220, up from
little bit."
128 in 1993-94.
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