The number of children attending yeshivas in New York State, kindergarten through 12th grade, has risen dramatically during the past five years, according to an end-of-the-school year report by the Commission on Legislation and Civic Action of Agudath Israel of America.
Citing data from the New York State Education Department, the commission declared that the total number of children enrolled in Jewish day schools in New York in the 1978-79 school year was 48,879 and that enrollment forthe current school year approached nearly 60,000. The commission estimated the national total at nearly 120,000.
The commission said that the growth over the past five years cane when the state’s total nonpublic school population was declining by about 13,000 pupils — from 583,873 in 1978-79 to 570,460 in 1982-83. The Education Department data indicated the number of Jewish day schools rose from 185 to 223 in the five-year period.
The commission reported it had directly assisted the day schools in their receiving more than $1 million in New York State mandated services reimbursement, for testing and record-keeping. Several day schools received small grants for technical assistance and energy conservation measures under a federal emergency grant program administered by the state.
Describing such gains as small, the commission declared that government reimbursement did not even begin to offset cuts suffered by the day schools in such fields as school lunches. Staggered by inflation and higher operating costs, the overall financial condition of Jewish day schools in New York State has markedly deteriorated, the commission declared.
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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.
