A $44,000 grant for a program in a Bronx school district which was rejected earlier this month as ethnically unbalanced was approved yesterday by Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare Joseph A. Califano Jr. The grant had been rejected after one of three HEW evaluators had given the program a sharply lower score by charging that “all the people cited as resource management seem middle class (Jewish in ethnicity).”
Califano ordered Dr. Emest L. Boyer, U.S. Commissioner of Education, to investigate after Rep. Mario Biaggi (D.NY), the American Jewish Committee, American Jewish Congress and Districe 11 superintendent Nicholas Cicchetti, protested the grant’s rejection. The district has a heavy concentration of Jews and Italians.
In a letter to Cicchetti, Califano said that Boyer had reviewed the grant application and concluded that the ethnic criteria were “inappropriately applied. We regret any suggestion of bias that may have been suggested in the District 11 application.” Boyer was reported to have said that in view of the incident, the criteria used in the award of education grants will be reviewed and rephrased. The funding proposal for the school district had involved preparation of educational material free of sexual stereotypes.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
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.
