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?"