Going Public

Jewish school board members and candidates feel
compelled to support local public education.

JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR

Special to the Jewish News

indy Nathan wasn't
looking for a political
career when she attend-
ed a seemingly benign
community meeting 12 years ago. She
was the mother of a kindergartner in
the public school system and she was
curious about a meeting held by the
Taxpayers Organized to Restore our
Cultural Heritage (TORCH).
"I live down the street from the library,
which was where the meeting was being
held. I thought I would go and hear
what they had to say," she recalls.
Nathan, an incumbent now seeking
her third term with the Bloomfield Hills

IOC

BERKLEY SCHOO

Schools board of trustees, said the
activists were seeking to have "more
Christmas" in the schools. "That sent my
antenna up. That was a real eye-opening
experience," she said. "And that is what
started my involvement in the schools."
From that meeting, the mother of two
has attended nearly every school board
meeting and served on parent-teacher
organizations and numerous committees
in her children's school buildings, even-
tually serving as president of the PTO
association. Her daughter is graduating
this month and her son, a preschooler
when all of this started. is now 15.
While Nathan's entree into school pol-
itics was unusual, her passion for public
service through the education field is
hardly unique in the Jewish community

According to David Gad-Harf, executive
director of the Jewish Community
Council and a West Bloomfield School
District trustee, Jews holding public
school board seats number about 18
individuals in seven Oakland County
communities, with more than a handful
running for open seats in these districts.
But why the interest in the public
schools when Jewish day schools seem
to be increasing in size and esteem
within the Jewish community? Gad-
Had, now two years into his first term
on the West Bloomfield board, said
many Jews believe the public schools
are an asset the Jewish community
cannot afford to live without. That
belief is just one of the reasons why so
many area Jews are willing to give up
countless hours of their time to serve
on committees and attend board
meetings while taking heat or praise
for decisions that affect local pupils.
"Jews see (public education) as the
central instrument for providing oppor-
tunities for people, no matter what their
background. We believe that an educat-
ed society is one that is more likely to

ELECTION
MONDAY,
n aTWATEM
RAI M EMI:IP

JUNE

,m41 101 5: 011 %

Catherine Fridson
(incumbent).
Age: 51
Residence:
Huntington Woodi
Years in District: 18
Children: Nathan and
Blake, Betide), High
School; Russell, Nomp
Middle School
Occupation: Communi tYr
volunteer
Education: BA,
University- of Michigan
jewishiCommunit - y
Involvement: Co-presi-
dent of the Religious
School Parents,
Congregation Beth
Shalom; past president
and treasurer, Burton
Elementary School;
treasurer, All-Night
Graduation Party-.

Barbara. Berger White
(incumbent)
Age: 47
Residence: Huntington
Woods
Years in District: 16
Children: Adam, Berkley,
High School; Michael,
Nora Middle School
Occupation: Clinical
social worker
Education: BA, child
development/education,
Michigan State

be secure for the Jewish community,"
Gad-Harf said. "We think that public
education is a fundamental institution
for an American democracy"
Maintaining good public schools
appeals to many on a spiritual level as
well. Nathan addressed this issue, saying
her Reform Judaism played into her deci-
sion to serve on the board for eight years.
"I am a Reform Jew and I interpret
that as being a Jew while participating
in a wider, culturally diverse society,"
she said. "Our public schools help to
create that diverse, educated society."
The diversity of the West
Bloomfield Schools was one of the
main attractions for the family of Beth
Danto Borson, president of the West
Bloomfield board of education.
Borson was vice chairman of United
We Walk, the district-sponsored cele-
bration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day,
for the event's first two years. She has
served on the board for seven years.
"Generally, Jews have pro-democratic
values," Borson said. "I personally like to
see the different ethnic and religious
GOING PUBLIC on page 22

1 1

A -
. "w. TiSkiAt""

-

Sint.0$

4, ovarn:

ft'st4: R

-

,

a44

Cg. OA V ,

iy

et4. i*sk

...AN,14,10kt<

4LA

rent re
teacher arc
for Temple
adjunct instructor at
Walsh College
Education: BA,
University of Michigan,
various post-graduate

•

1.;

•

S.Mi.
. ..

rx

,:..,.

Oc,ctipation: Senior
financial advisor
Education: BA, Central
Michigan University

777 1',

t r ,VV, 14141*WstItilit" w ' t ikt'!*k*
Wil'' 4 1 &I
-
"

M7Zrt . "'‘

as

AIZ. "k.'s '- ' . 4 ,i.>.1'
kitga t*SMik

, .,

IFilt ,..

5/25
2001

21

