Detroit Jewish Schools Sign Two-year Agreement with Teachers

A number of innovations in relations between teachers and management in Jewish schools, including provisions for teachers to be represented on school boards, are incorporated in a new two-year agreement between the United Hebrew Schools of Detroit and the Association of Hebrew Teachers of Metropolitan Detroit.

The two groups issued a joint statement asserting that, in addition to wage agreements, the agreement had developed “working conditions and professional standards that will reflect and promote a relationship corresponding to the needs of and demands of the teacher and the community.”

Provisions of the new contract, which expires in August, 1968, stress the importance of widest cooperation between administrations and teaching staffs to evaluate Jewish educational practices. Teachers invited to serve on boards will be asked to discuss problems of improving Jewish studies. The Detroit Jewish Welfare Federation, which provides Allied Jewish Campaign funds for school budgets, has approved the agreement.

Meanwhile, Congregation Shaarey Zedek, one of the nation’s largest Conservative synagogues, has signed this weekend an agreement with its Hebrew school teachers in an amicable end to a dispute which almost broke into a strike last October.

The dispute last fall led to the dismissal of Sol Panush and Jacob Golany. The Hebrew Teachers Association filed a complaint of unfair labor practices against the congregation with the State Labor Mediation Board, the first such action in Jewish education history in Detroit. During an all-day meeting that weekend, a congregation committee negated the dismissals and restored the teachers to their classes. The union withdrew its complaint and began negotiations for a new contract which concluded now.