EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK

larc

Beyond The Euphoria

IIIC

oney alone isn't the answer to the shifting sands of
assimilation that have caused too many young
adults in America to feel alienated from Judaism
because of apathy, inertia or ignorance among family and
friends. This deficiency in Jewish identity ranks up there with
rising anti-Jewish sentiment as the top threats to passing our
history and heritage from one generation to the next.
"Consider how little many of us know about history, our
culture, our language," mega-giver Michael Steinhardt, presi-
dent of the Jewish Leaders Network, told 4,000 delegates to
the 2004 General Assembly of North American federations
last November.
Still, money helps build Jewish identity.
The last two years, more public school stu-
dents have entered the ninth grade at the
Jewish Academy of Metropolitan Detroit. It's
not coincidental that Bloomfield Hills phi-
lanthropists Sam and Jean Frankel awarded
the high school a $20 million Endowment
Challenge Fund and a $500,000 Tuition
ROBERT A. Assistance Challenge Fund in 2002 to bolster
teaching, not construction.
SKLAR
So I found much to cheer in this week's
Editor
announcement of a $45 million investment
to create a community of "peerless excellence" among Boston's
Jewish day schools. The gift validates the lofty role that Jewish
education must play in all Jewish life, not just in Orthodox
homes. An anonymous group of Boston families presented the
gift to Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the central planning
and funding arm for Boston's 250,000 Jews. CJP will disperse
the money over five years through a central advisory team.
Think of the Peerless Excellence Project as a crucible for
experimenting how to create a more vibrant
learning environment and how to elevate the
role of day schools in building a better Jewish
community. Six more day schools have opened
over the past 10 years in the Boston area, lifting
enrollment 65 percent. Today, 14 Boston day
schools serve 2,600 students.
As with the Frankel gifts, the $45 million is
designated only for operating initiatives like cur-
riculum development, teacher training, enrich-
ment programs and student scholarships, not
Barry Shrage
capital campaigns. The gifts aren't meant to
replace traditional fund-raising.
CJP President Barry Shrage believes the $45 million will
serve as "a life-changing force in the Jewish community" given
that 47 percent of all Jews who marry choose a non-Jewish
spouse and the number of Jews in America continues to fall,
in large part to a low birth rate. Only time will tell.

Looking Ahead

Excitement over the announcement is great, but I'll reserve
judgment until success begins to overtake promise.
Of the $45 million, $30 million will go equally to the three
largest day schools in Boston. All three exceed the results of
area public and private schools on standardized tests and are
respected by university admissions officers, according to the
CJP. The other $15 million will be used to upgrade general
and Jewish studies at all 14 day schools and to endow a corn-
munity scholarship fund. Day school tuition ranges from
$12,000 to $16,000 a year. I was floored to learn that the esti-
mated cost to send a child to day school through high school

More coverage on the $45 million gift, page 40

is $200,000!
It's my impression that administrators of the gift will look
for innovative teaching ideas rather than proposals to lift
teacher pay. So compensation must be addressed in other
ways.
In reading about the Peerless Excellence Project, I was
intrigued by the Day School Advocacy Forum, a new coali-
tion of 19 Jewish day schools in New England. A parental sur-
vey found that Jewish day schools outperform private and
public schools in teaching ethics and values and in providing a
sense of community for parents and family. It found that day
school parents seek schools with high-quality math, science
and English programs, a positive peer group for their kids, the
teaching of ethics and values, and a low student-teacher ratio,
in addition to strong Jewish culture and language experiences.
The bottom line is revealing: Day school parents want equal
exposure to general and Jewish studies for their kids. That bal-
ance is what makes day schools so attractive to parents consid-
ering private school in the wake of public school funding cuts.
I'm sure that day school parents here in metro Detroit feel
the same way.

A Fragile Bond

The Peerless Excellence Project isn't rooted in an isolationist
approach. The project is linked to a broader strategy to build
layers of lifelong Jewish learning — from summer camps to
teen trips to Israel to adult and family programs. Day schools
represent the linchpin. Rising and inspired day school enroll-
ment could well make Boston the "dynamic model of cutting-
edge day school education" that the CJP envisions.
Jewish day schools are increasing nationwide. Today, 700
serve 200,000 kids, 10 times more than were
served 50 years ago, according to the Partnership
for Excellence in Jewish Education, a Boston-based
consortium of big givers determined to strengthen
the day school movement.
It is good to see so much Jewish money in
Boston staying within the Jewish community, espe-
cially because day schools have proven effective at
slowing assimilation while keeping high academic
standards.
Still, I believe there's also significant value in
Jewish families choosing a public school education
that's supplemented by afternoon and Sunday synagogue-
based learning. This option for learning also needs continued
and greater funding support. So it's good to hear that the CJP
is working to boost the quality of this type of learning as well;
the CJP region includes 35,000 school-age kids.
Let's be candid: Day schools ultimately won't prosper unless
they're part of a synergy where afternoon and nursery schools,
indeed lifelong Jewish learning efforts, also prosper.
The $45 million gift makes a compelling case that Jewish
schools deserve the kind of investment until now reserved for
museums and universities.
At a press conference in Boston on Monday, Michael
Steinhardt, who rarely uses superlatives, called the investment
"a bright and shining example" in contrast to the lethargy
shown toward Jewish education on the national philanthropic
stage. Steinhardt is chairman of Jewish Renaissance Media,
which owns the Detroit Jewish News.
"Somehow, " he said, "the key Jewish value continues to be
religious education — and we must do a much better job
than we are doing."
No one can dispute that. ❑

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