Funding Our Schools
Diana Lieberman
Special to the Jewish News
T
he 2005 Detroit Jewish
Population Study will
not be released in its
entirety till the fall. However,
those involved in Jewish educa-
tion have seen enough to verify
their suspicions: This communi-
ty's Jewish population is growing
older, while the number of young
people is dropping.
The study, led by Dr. Ira
Sheskin, director of the Jewish
Demography Project at the
University of Miami, found the
median age of Jews in the Detroit
area is 47, with 17,000 children
younger than 18 being raised
Jewish. This age group makes up
about 25 percent.of the Jewish
community. Twenty-four per-
cent of the Jews in metropolitan
Detroit are 65 and older; 14 per-
cent are 75 and older.
"The study shows we are
an agingpopulation," said
Rabbi Judah Isaacs, director
of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit's Alliance
for Jewish Education. Responding
to this demographic, Metro
Detroit's Florence Melton Adult
Mini-School, which offers adults
the opportunity to acquire Jewish
literacy, is booming.
"Our Melton has the high-
est rates in the country of adult
participation, compared to the
number of Jewish adults in the
community',' Rabbi Isaacs said.
"This year, we had over 500
participants, between graduates
in our on-going programs and
people taking the two-year pro-
gram."
However, the past few years
have seen an across-the-board
decline in the numbers of young
people in supplementary and
day schools. Notable exceptions
include the Jewish Academy of
Metropolitan Detroit, a multi-
stream Jewish day high school,
growing from 137 to 175 in
six years, and the Birmingham
16
June 22 • 2006
Temple School of Jewish Culture,
a supplementary school affiliated
with Humanistic Judaism, grow-
ing from 65 students to 100 in
five years.
As the number of children in a
school falls, the cost of providing
education, on a per-pupil basis,
becomes more expensive. Certain
costs, including teachers' salaries,
mortgages and insurance, remain
the same, while total tuition rev-
enue declines, Rabbi Isaacs said.
Robert Aronson, Federation
CEO, said Metro Detroit has "the
most excellent Jewish educational
system in the country, both for
the experiential education (infor-
mal) as well as the synagogues?'
However, he said, to continue
to provide this education to all
who seek it, Federation must cre-
ate a long-term funding mecha-
nism "so we are not always look-
ing for the last dollar to provide
scholarships.
"That means creating a major
and innovative central commu-
nity fund. We have a thing called
the Jewish Education Trust, but
we need to expand it in dramatic
fashion:' he said.
Aronson envisions "front-end
loading" contributions, a strat-
egy adopted by Chicago's Jewish
community. "The basic concept
is, people would make a major
pledge payable over 10 years. But,
instead of waiting 10 years to get
interest, you borrow money and, -
in effect, advance money on the
pledges?'
Day School Influence
According to the study, 98 per-
cent of Orthodox Jewish chil-
dren ages 5-12 attend Jewish
day schools, while 2 percent
attend public schools. Among
non-Orthodox Jewish children
ages 5-12, 78 percent attend
public schools, 18 percent
attend Jewish day schools and
10 percent attend non-Jewish
private schools. Among the
non-Orthodox Jewish families
surveyed with teenagers 13-17,
Although the population study
seventy-seven percent said their
shows a correlation between day
children have attended syna-
school attendance and Jewish
gogue school and 18 percent said
involvement, it gives no data
their children have attended
supporting the assertion that
Jewish day school. Five percent
day school attendance causes
said their children attended nei-
this higher level of involvement,
ther.
Rabbi Isaacs said. "We don't
Steve Freedman, head of
know the answer to that ques-
school at Hillel Day School of
tion?'
Metropolitan Detroit, pointed to
Rabbi Joseph Klein of Temple
another finding: "This survey is
Emanu-El in Oak Park, associ-
not dissimilar to others, in that
ated with the Reform movement,
it shows people with Jewish day
said synagogue schools "need the
school education are most likely
support of the Jewish community
to have the highest affiliation
to continue to provide a quality
rate, the highest commitment to
Israel, and are most likely to send Jewish education.
"We at the synagogues are
their own children to Jewish day
doing yeoman work in maintain-
schools."
ing Jewish identity, connecting
Freedman said Conservative
our children to the Jewish world
and Reform congregations must
on a day-by-day, week-
"realize it is to their
by-week, year-by-year
own benefit, and the
basis. Our Jewish com-
benefit of the future
munity leadership does
of the Jewish com-
not afford synagogue
munity, to encour-
educational programs
age their families to
the kind of attention we
consider day school
deserve?'
education?'
Federation's Alliance
Hind's annual
for Jewish Education is
Steve Free dman
scholarship fund
setting up task forces
raises more than $1
to study funding and
million each year,
enrollment strategies
Freedman said.
and priorities based on new
"I am confident you'd be hard
information in the population
pressed to find any other Jewish
study, Rabbi Isaacs said.
day school in the country that
According to the Jewish popu-
can match that figure on an
annual basis. But Hillel can't do it lation study, about 3 percent of
Metro Detroit's Jews identify
alone. Federation has been great,
as Humanist. The Birmingham
but the whole community has
Temple, which serves this com-
to be behind us in providing the
munity, is one of very few to see
funds to ensure a Jewish educa-
synagogue school enrollment rise
tion for each child."
Rabbi Reuven Spolter of Young within the past three years.
"A school that used to have
Israel of Oak Park, associated
65 students five years ago
with the Orthodox movement,
said, "Synagogue school is simply now enrolls over 100," said
Birmingham Temple Rabbi
not enough."
Tamara Kolton.
"As a community, if we learn
The Jewish Academy of
nothing else from this study, we
must realize once and for all that, Metropolitan Detroit is complet-
ing its sixth year with 175 stu-
if we want our children to live
dents; last year, the four-year day
Jewish lives as adults, we must
high school had 161 students; the
invest heavily as parents and as
year before, enrollment was 137.
a community, in their intensive
Enrollment for the 2006-2007
education as children?"