A Jewish day school expert told the Senate Subcommittee on Education that there was an imperative need for legislative relief for the “financially hardpressed” Hebrew day schools. He said this applied particularly to the day schools in urban areas serving the poor and lower middle class Jews who otherwise may be forced to relocate, posing the possibility of a loss of Jewish communal institutions and neighborhoods.
Rabbi Bernard Goldenberg, director of School Organization for Torah Umesorah, testified last Thursday that nearly 100 of the 180 day schools in the New York City area served students from such Jewish homes. He said the schools would not be able–without government help–to provide scholarships for the disadvantaged, which would force parents to move to areas where day schools were in better financial condition and able to provide scholarships.
He explained that any substantial exodus of parents of pupils would force closing the schools which, in turn, would lead the remaining parents to leave for areas where schools were available. He proposed such government aid as tuition grants, tax credits to parents of day school pupils, and payments for mandated services.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
