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Publisher's Notebook
Editorial
Odds And Ends From
The Campaign Trail
New Resource Coup
Help Control Tuition
W
est-Bloomfield residents should
be relieved and concerned in the
aftermath of their Aug. 7 election
primary. Relieved because they will be spared
the mostly negative barrage of mailings and
robo calls from an array of township candi-
dates, ranging from $125-a-meeting trustees
to six-figure officers. Concerned because there
is something about West Bloomfield politics
that continues to turn otherwise well-inten-
tioned people into pit bulls.
This behavior is not the typical Republican-
versus-Democrat mudslinging we've
come to expect, because all of the
candidates are Democrats. (In fact,
the former Democratic supervi-
sor of the township announced
last week that he is running as an
independent in the general election
to reclaim his former position!) It's
not about a philosophical battle over
public school education, because
none of these folks has anything to
do with managing the school dis-
tricts that serve West Bloomfield.
And it's not about sprucing up the
township in ways that help reduce
the inventory of foreclosed homes.
After reviewing agendas and minutes from
several township meetings, it occurs to me
that a reason why our elected officials go
at each other's throats is ... they don't have
enough meaningful stuff to do. While regulat-
ing the speed limit for boats on Green Lake
may be worth pursuing, should this really
be the highlight of a trustee meeting? When
you've been on the job for four years, should
upgrading the township IT system be your sig-
nature achievement, one claimed by multiple
candidates in their campaign literature?
If the township officers and trustees want
to break the downward political spiral they
are creating and fueling, they should quickly
assemble a non-partisan committee of resi-
dents and business owners to review West
Bloomfield's governmental effectiveness. This
committee would make recommendations
that enhance the prospects for better gover-
nance and re-calibrate the roles and respon-
sibilities of township officers and trustees.
Otherwise, given that residents voted to return
most of the same folks to their current posi-
tions, West Bloomfield's three-ring political
circus is likely to continue.
Passing The Torch
To A New Generation
I'm confident Democratic Congressmen John
Conyers and Sander Levin are familiar with
President John F. Kennedy's 1961 inaugural
address. In it, JFK proclaims that the torch of
48
August 16 2012
leadership has been passed to a new genera-
tion. At that time, Conyers and Levin recog-
nized that torch was being passed to them
... they were the ones with vigor and ideas
of what a "new frontier" for America could
look like. But Levin and Conyers are now in
their 80s and have 77 years of cumulative con-
gressional service (John Dingell Jr. has been
serving in the House of Representatives since
1955, having followed in his father's footsteps
and providing nearly 80 consecutive years of
Dingell representation).
Unfortunately, the Crazy Glue
in the palms of their hands has
prevented a new, but already
aging, generation of Michigan
Democrats from receiving
that torch and contributed to
their party's train wreck last
week in the newly drawn 14th
Congressional District primary.
With the predictably messy one-
seat reduction and re-drawing of
Michigan congressional districts
by the Republican-controlled
state Legislature, three of the
party's most capable candidates,
incumbents Gary Peters and Hansen Clarke
plus long-serving Southfield Mayor Brenda
Lawrence, chose to duke it out in the 14th
Congressional District. (Conyers said prior to
the primary that after he won this election, he
would consider "passing the torch:')
If Levin gracefully retired
from his position, Peters
could have run and won in
the newly constituted Ninth
Congressional District. If
Conyers gracefully retired
from his position, Clarke
could have run and won
in
the newly constituted
Levin
13th Congressional District.
And Lawrence could have
run and won in the 14th
District. Instead, Levin and
Conyers have helped assure
that Michigan Democrats
will have a weak bench
(remember Virg Bernero as
Conyers
the party's 2010 gubernato-
rial candidate?) for years to
come.
Sometimes It's Better
To Just Be 'Brad'
While there will be post-mortems among sup-
porters of political newcomer Brad "Bubba"
Urdan, who finished fifth in a field of six
Odds And Ends on page 49
I
t's billed as a clearinghouse devoted to research-
, ing, analyzing and sharing numbers, experiences
and practices relating to how day schools from all
of the Jewish religious streams strive to keep tuition
affordable. The new Jewish Day School Affordability
Knowledge Center is a joint effort of the Boston-
based Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education
(PEJE) and the New York-based Orthodox Union (OU).
This welcomed initiative to track tuition afford-
ability models certainly has the potential to be a
fount of invaluable information and insight for North
America's 800 Jewish day schools. Its success
hinges on how innovative, pertinent and applicable
the findings are to the vitality and sustainability of
the North American day school system.
"Our partnership, and the expertise and thought
leadership our respective organizations bring to the
table, are testament to the need for collaboration around today's
major issues and to the value of marshaling the Jewish community's
collective wisdom — with data to back it up," PEJE Executive Director
Amy Katz said in a press statement.
She's right about the need for improved collaborative programs
on cost efficiencies throughout the network of Jewish day schools,
one of the pillars to maintaining Jewish identity and elevating Jewish
interest among our children.
As Steve Freedman, head of school at Hillel Day School of
Metropolitan Detroit, told the JN: "Affordability is an issue for every
Jewish day school and we need to learn from each other about what
works in other communities."
The roughly 550-student school has a tuition range from $10,500
for kindergarten to $16,545 in grades 1-8. Hillel's Early Childhood
Center fees are comparable to synagogue EEC tuition. Tuition gener-
ates 63 percent of Hillel's $8.26 million annual operating budget.
Federation, donors and fundraising make up the difference. So tuition
plays a crucial part in paying the way forward.
Hillel is one of six Federation-supported Jewish day schools in
Metro Detroit. Others are Yeshiva Gedola, Yeshiva Beth Yehudah,
Yeshivat Akiva, Yeshivas Darchei Torah and Frankel Jewish Academy.
In the wake of Michigan's economic travails, more and more par-
ents have felt the hurtful pinch of day school tuition. While some
had no choice but to transfer their children to public school, which,
of course, is a good option, many stayed committed to being a day
school family as long as they possibly could.
It's surprising there never has been a central address for collect-
ing, dissecting and disseminating data on Jewish day school tuition.
The OU has the most day schools under its vast umbrella so its role
in the partnership makes sense. PEJE, meanwhile, crosses religious
streams so how it serves the non-Orthodox streams through the
Jewish Day School Affordability Knowledge Center becomes espe-
cially important.
As Michigan's public schools wrestle with declining enrollment,
aging buildings and state revenue cuts, as Michigan's colleges and
universities try to limit fee hikes, and as private and parochial day
schools cope with ever-rising costs, Jewish day schools have plenty
of company waiting at the smart board of what works to put tuition
in reach of more young families. Studies show Jewish day schools,
along with Jewish summer camps and Israel trips with peers, are
proven avenues to establish and nurture Jewish identity among
young people.
Promising as it is, the Jewish Day School Affordability Knowledge
Center must pass the test of time to join the pantheon of high-
achieving support networks within the organized Jewish world. 7