Survey Establishes Five-fold Increase in American Jewish Education in Fifty Years

The number of pupils enrolled in institutions of Jewish education where instruction in Jewish religion, history, culture and tradition and in the Hebrew and Yiddish languages is provided as a supplement to the basic curriculum of general education, increased almost five times in the first half of the Twentieth Century, it was revealed in a survey completed by the American Association for Jewish Education. The findings of the survey were released today by Michael A. Stavitsky, president of the Association, and Judah Pilch, executive director.

The study points out that the number of Jewish children enrolled in the various Jewish educational institutions was 45,000 in 1900, based upon a Jewish child population of 222,208 and a total Jewish population of 1,058,135. In 1950, the number of Jewish children enrolled in Jewish schools had increased to 266,609, an increase of more than 490%, as against a 185% increase in child population, in a total Jewish community of 4,500,000. A substantial proportion of this increase is attributed, according to the survey, to the entrance of a large number of Jewish girls into the schools.

A major change in the structure of Jewish education in the Twentieth Century has been the increase in community organization for Jewish education, in which the total organized Jewish community of a given city or area assumes responsibility for the provision of Jewish educational opportunity. “Today there are 40 cities, including all the large metropolitan centers, which have developed community-wide programs of Jewish education, financed and supervised by central educational agencies responsible to the community,” the study reports.

In 1950, more than 60 communities reported allocations to Jewish schools from Jewish federations, Welfare Funds, or similar community fiscal agencies. Close to $2,500,000 were allocated to Jewish schools in 1949, the survey establishes, pointing out that such allocations have increased through the years in almost every city, with the increase being proportionately more rapid than that of funds allocated through the same channels for other local needs.