Jewish Committee Testifies Against Federal Aid to Religious Schools

The American Jewish Committee today submitted testimony to both houses of Congress endorsing President Kennedy’s proposal for Federal aid to public schools but insisting that such aid should be denied to parochial schools whether Jewish, Catholic or Protestant.

Stressing the Constitutional tradition of separation of Church and State, the American Jewish Committee urged that Federal funds should not be made available to parochial schools either as grants or loans. The testimony was signed by Herbert B. Ehrmann, president of the organization.

The American Jewish Committee said that the crisis in education must be met “within the framework of sound, public policy adopted over 170 years ago, namely, that the institutions of Church and State shall be kept forever separate and distinct in the United States.”

“It is neither discriminatory nor unjust to ask parents who voluntarily elect to send their children to private schools because they prefer the type of education given at such institutions over that offered in the public school, to pay the entire cost of such private school education, Mr. Ehrmann said in the testimony. “Indeed we would consider it unfair and discriminatory to ask the general taxpayer to foot the bill in whole or in part for such private school education. “

This view, he pointed out, is not to be “interpreted as hostility” to private and parochial schools. He recalled that in 1925 the American Jewish Committee had “defended the right of parents to send their children to parochial schools to receive the type of education that such parents deemed best for their children. “

Reaffirming its long maintained position that “public funds should be used for public education and must not be used either directly or indirectly to support non-public elementary or secondary schools, ” the AJC statement noted that the Committee still holds fast to this principle “notwithstanding the very rapid growth of all-day Jewish parochial schools which, at present, have an attendance of about 45,000 children.”