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THE HOLOCAUST BY BULLETS:

irresponsibility in recent years — bor-
rowing money to pay back other
borrowed money. Soon, he added, the
chickens will come home to roost.
"We have an enormous amount of
debt outstanding and are unable to
refinance it:' he said. "And that is a
serious problem!'

By The Numbers
The fear of recession has only now
begun to sink in, according to a sur-
vey recently released by the Board of
Jewish Education of Greater New York.
The BJE surveyed 63 schools and
asked them about their feelings last
year versus this year, and the results
showed a significant increase in con-
cern about money.
Last year, fewer than 20 percent of
schools surveyed were seriously con-
cerned about tuition collection. That
figure has soared this year to nearly 65
percent.
Thirty-five percent of schools were
seriously concerned about losing
donors last year; now it's 85 per-
cent. Approximately a quarter of the
schools expressed serious concern
about meeting payroll last year; nearly
70 percent have that concern now.
And while 45 percent were seriously
concerned about meeting scholarship
needs, more than 60 percent are this
year.
Most schools are seeking creative
solutions to the tuition problem.
Some, like Kadima in Los Angeles,
have reduced tuitions. The Beth Tfiloh
Community Day School in Baltimore
recently gave out $100,000 in emer-
gency loans, so parents could afford to
make their tuition payments for 2008.
In New York, where tuition at day
schools can run as high as $30,000 per
year, the MA-Federation of New York
announced this month that it would
give out $1 million in scholarships for
the area's 280 day schools and yeshivot
serving approximately 110,000 students.

Alternative Approaches
The Orthodox Union is consider-
ing creating an emergency fund to
help cash-strapped day schools and
yeshivot. The fund would provide
money for schools that have immedi-
ate cash flow issues and cannot meet

basic expenses. It also could include
a component that would provide cash
advances to schools that would have to
be paid back.
Some in the non-Orthodox world
are looking at the creation of a public
Hebrew charter school in New York,
which won approval from the city in
January, as another potential option
for alleviating tuition crunches.
The crisis has led to the same call
for increased collaboration that is
being heard throughout the philan-
thropic world.
"The days of going it alone I believe
are over," Rabbi Joshua Elkin, the execu-
tive director of the Partnership and
Excellence in Jewish Education, told the
O.U. gathering of educators. "The days
when individual day schools were their
own boats and they were going to sail
on the high seas alone are over. There is
strength in numbers, in being together
and learning from each other. Above all
we have to create synergy and we must,
must, must avoid duplication."
Schools need to think creatively and
collectively, Elkin said. In terms of col-
laboration, he floated the idea that day
schools pool their Advance Placement
classes. Whereas several schools in an
area may have AP classes with fewer
than 10 students, he said it would
make sense for those schools to offer a
joint class and thus save money.
Elkin said schools across the board
must look at increasing class sizes and
should look for alternative sources of
income. For instance, a school could
rent its facilities to other organizations
during off hours.
Above all, he said, schools must look
not only at the present situation but
also down the road, budgeting for sev-
eral years at a time and not incurring
more debt now in trying to weather
the storm.
For instance, tuition breaks might
not be the answer.
"Rolling back tuition is not neces-
sarily the way to go:' Elkin said. "The
only thing you do when you freeze
your tuition is transferring the burden
to your development office.
"The last thing you want is to con-
tinue to give the education for under
the cost of the education. That is a los-
ing proposition." ❑

A PRIEST'S JOURNEY TO UNCOVER
THE TRUTH BEHIND THE MURDER
OF 1.5 MILLION JEWS

Before the gas chambers and the crematoria, the
Nazis' preferred method of murder was rounding up
and shooting large numbers of Jews, then leaving
their bodies in mass, unmarked graves. At least 2,000
such sites are scattered throughout Ukraine.
Most were completely forgotten and likely would have
remained so if not for Father Patrick Desbois. Come
hear the fascinating story of Father Desbois' journey
to discover and memorialize these forgotten victims.

Tuesday, February 24, 2009
7:30 p.m.

Dessert reception, book sale
and signing following program.

Jewish Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit
D. Dan & Betty Kahn Building
Eugene & Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus
6600 W. Maple Road • West Bloomfield, Ml

Advance registration and payment requested by

Thursday, February 19.

To charge by phone, please call 248.432.5692
Center members: $8 • Non-members: $10
All tickets at the door: $15

EVENT CO-SPONSORS:

American Jewish Committee
Jewish Community Relations Council of Metropolitan Detroit
WISDOM

SAJE is made possible, in part, thanks to the generous support of
Sophie Pearlstein and Sydelle & Sheldon fl Sonkin through
the Center's Pillars of Light program.

SAJE is endowed by a generous gift from Cis Maisel Kellman.

For questions or more information about this event, please contact
Adina Pergament, director of SAJE, at 248.432.5470 or
apergament@jccdet.org .

SAJE (Seminars for Adult Jewish Enrichment) is a program of the Jewish
Community Center of Metropolitan Detroit that provides exceptional year-round,
community-wide learning opportunities that connect people to Judaism.

t,

f

THE CENTER

The 57th

Jewish
Book Fair

The Beat Boobs on Earth. Literally.

III 1lJ1 Federation

...„

The Chrysler Foundation

ALLIANCE FOR
JEWISH EDUCATION

Hotel Baronette

nwa

NOROMIUT MALIN'S

Jeep

ROMAN CATHOLIC
ARCHDIOCESE OF DETROIT

1481910

February 19 • 2009

A25

