Scholarships Rise

Congregational schools reap a sizable
increase in Federation dollars.

JULIE WIENER

Staff Writer

C

ongregational schools —
many of which are strapped
for funds and have com-
plained of neglect at the
expense of day schools — have won a
145-percent increase in Federation
scholarship funds.
The $300,000 allocation this year
— a $178,000 increase over last year's
$122,500 = comes at the same time
Federation is launching a $25-million
Millennium fund-raising campaign,
which aims to create a $10-million
endowment to improve congregational
schools, along with smaller endow-
ments for other educational and cul-
tural projects.
"I'm pleased that Federation has
acknowledged that Jewish education,
whether through day schools or after-
noon religious schools, is important,"
said Joe Tarica, executive director of
Temple Kol Ami.
Tarica and other synagogue execu-
tive directors approached Federation
earlier this year about funding for syn-
agogue schools and, "We're very happy
that we've met a responsive ear," he
said.
Barbara Cook, chair of Federa-
tion's education division, said she
was not sure if the larger allocation

AKIVA

for congregational school scholar-
ships will result in larger scholar-
ships, more recipients or both.
In 1997-98, 80 congregational
school students received scholarships
ranging from $140-$200 in size.
More than 5,000 children attend
congregational schools in the
Detroit area.
Cook said Federation is also try-
ing to respond to synagogues'
requests to improve the process for
awarding scholarships. For example,
synagogues will no longer be
required to share the names of schol-
arship applicants with Federation
officials and efforts will be made to
account for different schools'
expenses and tuition schedules.
Temple Emanu-El's education
director, Marcia Leibson, said
increased scholarships and possible
synagogue allocations "will help us to
do a better job because we'll have
more money."
She expressed concern, however,
that scholarships be allocated in a
timely manner, noting that, in past
years, families have sometimes not
learned whether they would receive
scholarships until well into the acad-
emic year for which they had
applied.
While funding is increasing dra-
matically, the $300,000 now available

BETH
YESHIVA
GEDOLAH. YEHUDAH

and HILLEL

$ 1,303

for congregational school students is
still considerably less than the $1.5
million allocated to day schools. Day
school funding is up by 10 percent
from 1997-98, and at 13 percent each,
increases are particularly high for
Akiva Hebrew Day School and
Yeshiva Beth Yehudah. Together, the
four schools receiving Federation allo-
cations enroll approximately 1,900
students.
With an enrollment of 296 and an
allocation of $385,700, Akiva was the
day school receiving the largest per-
pupil allocation: $1,303. Hillel Day
School, which has a student body of
712, received $485,000, making it the
school with the smallest per-pupil
allocation.
However, Cook emphasized that
enrollment is only one factor in deter-
mining day school allocations. "If we
wanted to do per-student allocations,
our job would be really easy, but we
want to be sensitive to the particular
needs of each school," she said.
"Some schools have greater needs in
terms of their student body and the
amount they're able to take in for
tuition. Also, Akiva runs a high school
as well as an elementary school and —
not that elementary school is cheap —
but high school is much more expen-
sive no matter how fiscally responsible
you are."

Yeshivas Darchei Torah, a 12-year-
old Orthodox institution with 274
students, has never received Federation
allocations. This year was no excep-
tion.
"We've had talks with Darchei
Torah and they have put in an appli-
cation, but they're not at that stage [of
receiving an allocation] yet and they
understand that," said Federation's
Cook. Darchei Torah President Dr.
Eliyahu Hurvitz was unavailable for
comment.
In addition to day school alloca-
tions and the congregational school
scholarship fund, Federation allocated
$1,176,758 — a 4-percent increase
over last year — to the Agency for
Jewish Education. It also awarded
$340,358 (a 6-percent increase) to the
Michigan/Israel Connection and
$50,000 (the same as 1997-98) to the
Teen Mission to Israel.
Federation allocations are deter-
mined annually, utilizing funds
raised through the Allied Jewish
Campaign. Institutions also can
receive occasional grants and loans
from the United Jewish Foundation.
For example, the UJF this year
approved a $750,000 grant — to
be awarded over three years — to a
new Jewish high school that hopes
to open its doors in September
1999.

❑

This year's increases
for Yeshiva Beth
for
and Akiva
(13 percent) were
more than double
the increases for
Hillel and Yeshiva
Gedolah (6 percent).

Day school allocations increased by
22.26 percent in the past two years
(10 percent in the past year).
Supplemental school scholarships
increased by 145 percent this year;
and by 275 percent over the last two
years. However; the $300,000 for
supplemental schools is less than 1/5
the amount ($1,528,200) allocated
to day schools.

Per Pupil Spending

(rounded to nearest dollar)

Total Education
Allocations in the
past two years

7/3
1998

9

