Day school costs in the New York area have doubled within the past decade, according to a study by the Board of Jewish Education (BJE) of Greater New York which it called the most comprehensive study to date on the topic.
Dr. Albert Homblass, BJE president, said the 1981-82 survey represented combined figures for a total of 146 schools — 96 elementary and 50 high schools. The total enrollment of 41,646 students represents 75 percent of the total pupil copulation in Jewish day schools in Greater New York, he said.
In the elementary day schools, he reported, the range per pupil costs for the school year was $1,158 to $4,536. Official school year tuition fees ranged from $300 to $3,225. The average per pupil cost was $2,003, with an average official school year tuition fee of $1,317. The range of per pupil tuition income was $262 to $1,917 and the average per pupil tuition income was $1,232.
The BJE survey found that, in day high schools there was a range of per pupil costs of $1,609 to $6,822, and official tuition fees ranged from $600 for the school year to $3,675. The average per high school pupil cost was $3,440, with an average official tuition fee of $1,579. The range of per pupil tuition income at the high school level was $596 to $2,006, with an average per pupil tuition income of $1,498, the BJE found.
Homblass said that “comparisons with expenditures of a decade ago underscore the spiraling costs of education,” adding that in 1972, the average per day school pupil cost was about $900 for the elementary grades and $1,500 for the high school level. Since then, he said, “average elementary costs have more than doubled, while high school costs have almost tripled.”
A CRITICAL FISCAL CHALLENGE
Dr. Alvin Schiff, BJE’s executive vice president who directed the study, declared that the findings represented “a critical fiscal challenge for the Jewish and the general community,” adding that “insufficient funds make it difficult to recruit teachers and to provide adequate support for special needs, such as pupil scholarships, and programs for the gifted and learning disabled.”
Noting that the overall average annual per pupil cost of $2,600 is comparable for the Jewish day schools and the public schools in the New York area, Schiff declared that “in reality this is a commentary on the cost effectiveness of the Jewish day school.”
He said “the school day in a yeshiva or all-day school is approximately two to four hours longer than the public school day.” He also said that the dual program in a Jewish day school combines a full curriculum of Jewish and general studies everyday, adding that the factors that make this possible are, essentially, a relatively small physical plant, low annual maintenance, low instructional costs and maximum use of school resources and personnel.
Schiff said that, despite the low per pupil expenditures, pupil achievement in the Jewish day school is significantly higher than in most schools in the United States. He added that “the logical conclusion is that tuition tax credits make sense for Jewish day schools. Each dollar spent on Jewish all-day education provides maximum returns.” The BJE is a beneficiary of the United Jewish Appeal/Federation Campaign.
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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.
