The National Council for Jewish Education, the professional association of Jewish educators, announced today its endorsement of the Johnson Administration’s bill for federal aid to education.
Jewish organizations are split over the measure, principally because it provides for shared time use of school facilities and for aid to pupils in parochial and other non-public schools. Orthodox groups, particularly those associated with day schools, have endorsed the bill. The NCJE is the first Jewish education group representing all shades of Jewish groupings to approve the measure. The NCJE is comprised of heads of community educational agencies, principals of afternoon and day schools of all Jewish denominations, and instructors in Jewish teacher-training schools.
Dr. Eleazar Goelman, president of the NCJE, said that, in its endorsement, the Council strongly urged that “in the administration of all phases of the bill, provision be made for maintaining and safeguarding the autonomy of all educational organizations, public and non-public.”
The NCJE statement stressed that the recommendations of the bill would include aid to “the Jewish all-day school which is the major exponent of an intensive Jewish education, without infringing upon the long established principle of separation of church and state.” Those Jewish organizations that oppose the bill contend that such an infringement is inherent in the measure. Dr. Goelman said that a special NCJE commission made on exhaustive study of federal aid to education and recommended endorsement of the measure.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
