New MEAP Dates
Hillel Board Off Base
Special Writer Don Cohen wrote about
the scheduling of the Michigan
Educational Assessment Program and
celebration of the Jewish High Holidays
this fall ("MEAP Conflict," July 14,
page 24).
Parents of Michigan's public school
children are well acquainted with
MEAT. This program is used to assess
the instructional effectiveness of schools,
as well as establishing compliance with
federal No Child Left Behind regula-
tions and even eligibility for Michigan
scholarship money. In recent years, the
MEAP has been, rightfully, referred to as
"high-stakes testing."
It is no surprise then that members of
the Jewish community expressed con-
cern when the Michigan Department of
Education scheduled the testing window
in October at a period encompassing the
High Holidays. In the J/V, our
spokesperson, Judy Evola, is accurately
quoted as saying in the Walled Lake
Schools, "We will work to ensure Jewish
students and staff are not adversely
affected" by this potential scheduling
conflict.
I am now pleased to report that our
request for an additional week in which
to test our students has been granted by
the Michigan Department of Education.
This will allow us to begin our MEAP
testing on Oct. 6, the day after the
observance of Rosh Hashanah. We will
do no MEAP testing on Oct. 13 and
14, to accommodate the observance of
Yom Kippur.
The Walled Lake Consolidated School
District celebrates diversity and consid-
ers it an asset for all of our students. As a
result, we are pleased to make these
accommodations in our calendar to
ensure the many religious traditions rep-
resented in our student body are respect-
ed and accommodated.
Praise to Robert Sklar and his excellent
Kol ha kavod to my friend and fellow
Editor's Notebook, "Snubbing Detroit
Hillel alum-parent Naomi Levine for
Jewry" (Sept. 1, page 5). If the Jewish
her letter ("Hillel And Labor Day,"
community were to invite an avowed
Sept. 1, page 8) decrying the decision
racist to Detroit and give that person a
by the board of Hillel Day School of
key to the city and treat that person
Metropolitan Detroit to withdraw
with respect and dignity, the African
recognition of the Hillel Federation of
American community would be in an
Teachers.
uproar.
My daughter Amy attended Hillel
The Jewish community should raise
from second grade through eighth
their common voice loud and clear to
grade, graduating in 1995. My family
was proud that Hillel teachers were part the city of Detroit for their pathetic
embrace of Rev. Louis Farrakhan. He
of a union and that the school recog-
and his cohort in the Black Panther
nized and negotiated with the union,
Party, Malik Zulu Shabazz, have a long,
despite some rocky moments and even
loud and clear history of anti-Semitism.
the occasional strike.
Their anti-Israel and anti-Zionist rheto-
Here in Michigan — where many
ric is undeniable.
brave working people risked (and in
The Anti-Defamation League is
some cases, lost) their lives to organize a
appalled that Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick
labor union movement and through it
and the city of Detroit would insult the
to achieve decent working conditions
'Jewish community by honoring a man
and justice for millions of American
like Rev. Farrakhan.
workers — the board of directors of a
Let the ADL be the first to sign on to
Jewish school whose mission is to teach
Torah to the next generation seems, to
me, to have lost its way.
Many grandparents and great-grand-
parents of today's middle-aged genera-
tion of American Jews, including, I
would guess, at least some members of
the Hillel Day School board, were part
of the labor movement and recognized
labor's critical role in the unending
challenge to fulfill the Torah's mandate,
Tzedek, tzedek tirdof— "Justice, justice
you shall pursue.
I regret that the Hillel teachers felt
under such pressure this past week that
they gave up the fight and accepted
individual contracts in lieu of union
representation. I had hoped there
would be such support for their cause
in the Hillel and Detroit Jewish com-
munities that the Hillel board would
reverse its decision and continue to rec-
ognize the union. Sadly, we will never
know if this might have been the case.
James R. Geisler
9/ 8
2005
6
officially rebuke the city of Detroit.
There are black leaders in this country
that deserve our praise and recognition.
Louis Farrakhan is not one of them.
Betsy S. Kellman
ADL regional director
Bloomfield Township
My Grandfather's Photo!
In the Aug. 25 issue, there appeared a
picture of a group of Detroit philan-
thropists who were instrumental in the
establishment of Israel's' Bar-Ilan
University ("A Proud Legacy" page
62). Among that group, one tall, dis-
tinguished gentleman was unidenti-
fied. That man was my maternal
grandfather Louis Nosanchuk, who
was a cousin of the Stollman family.
His generosity was exceeded only by
his piety.
Dr. Manuel Sklar
Franklin
LETTERS on page 8
"
superintendent
Walled Lake Schools
Nancy F. Kaplan
Jewish.com
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This 1951 photo taken in Abe and Laura Nusbaum's basement includes Professor
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