Federation task force will study plan to boost support for Jewish day schools

INDIANAPOLIS, Nov. 18 (JTA) — The Jewish federation movement will consider dramatically increasing support for Jewish day school education in North America. But it has rejected, for now, a proposal that would have asked federations to work toward providing day school education to anyone who wants it. Instead, the Council of Jewish Federations launched a one-year task force to study a grass-roots movement that has asked federations to increase their allocations for day schools. The goal is to make a Jewish education accessible to all Jewish children regardless of their family’s finances. George Hanus, a Chicago-area businessman who heads a new movement, the National Jewish Day School Scholarship Committee, hailed the creation of the task force as a victory for his movement. But he will continue to press individual federations to commit to making day school education available to all Jewish children. At the urging of the New York, Washington and San Francisco federations, CJF delegates postponed consideration of a resolution written by Hanus and supported by the Chicago federation. The resolution would have urged federations to make day school education available to “all Jewish children whose families desire it, including those whose families do not have the necessary financial resources.” “The resolution wouldn’t have passed without more clarity,” said Martin Kraar, CJF executive vice president. “What does it mean to a federation?” he asked. In addition to questions surrounding day schools, many delegates said the issue needs to be studied further to assess its impact on public schools, school vouchers and Jewish education programs. Wayne Feinstein, executive vice president of the San Francisco federation, stressed that the federations, in general, are not opposed to increasing support for day schools. “If we approved it now without further thought, people in many communities would say that all additional campaign money should go to Jewish day schools,” he said “It’s not just a moral exhortation, there was an expectation of financial support.”