Conference Discusses Plan to Attract Teachers to Jewish Schools

A four-point program for coping with the unprecedented shortage of teachers for Jewish religious schools, was presented by Judge Louis E. Levinthal to the Middle Atlantic States Conference on Jewish Education here. The Conference was convened by the American Association for Jewish Education. Specifically, Judge Levinthal suggested;

“1. Most of our schools operate on a schedule of no more than ten or twelve hours a week. So long as the work load of our teachers is not increased, and the scope of the teacher activities is not widened, our communities will not undertake to pay a full week’s salary for part time employment. Bold and radical steps must be taken to broaden the functions of our teachers. The teacher’s classroom labors must be supplemented by recreational or social services of an educational character so that adequate compensation would be justified.

“2. The prestige, the social status of the Jewish teacher must be enhanced. The content of the school program must be made intellectually challenging in order to attract and retain intelligent and dedicated men and women in the profession. An effort should also be made to see that the teacher is given an honored place in our community life and afforded an opportunity to participate constructively in its activities.

“3. The program of our teachers’ training schools and colleges must be expanded. A special effort should be made to comb the college campuses for prospective Jewish teachers. Scholarships and subsidies must be provided for this purpose.

“4. Special care must be taken in the recruitment of personnel for Jewish religious education so that those engaged professionally in the field of Jewish education should be men and women who in their own personal lives practice the ideals we would have them inculcate in our children.