The Queens Jewish Community Council today condemned the proposals by the City Human Rights Commission to abolish the Board of Examiners which prepares examinations for teaching and administrative positions in the NYC Board of Education, for fear that these recommendations would destroy “what little remains of the educational process in the City of New York.” Dr. Alvin Lashinsky, president of the Council, in a strongly worded letter to each New York State Legislator, stated the opposition of the Council, which represents Queens synagogues and Queens chapters of major Jewish organizations and urged them to vote against William P. Passannante’s bill to abolish the Board of Examiners. Passannante is a New York Democratic Assemblyman. “The dangers are great,” Dr. Lashinsky’s letter stated, “that a quota system will be set up where teachers and administrators will be hired not because of their relative ability but because of their color and in order to achieve a certain numerical ratio to the population. In addition, outright discrimination may result with predominantly white school boards appointing only white teachers and predominantly black school boards appointing only white teachers and predominantly black school boards appointing only black teachers.”
Dr. Lashinsky emphasized to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that a “spoils system” was inherent in the proposals. In his letter to the Legislators he stated: “No recommendations have been made to prevent local school boards from succumbing to the temptations to distribute these well-paying positions for either political reasons, for bribes, or to family and friends. Already in IS 201, allegations have been made that the local board is giving away non-teaching positions to family and friends.” His letter concluded. “The Queens Jewish Community Council feels that improved testing procedures, which are constantly revised to bring them into line with changing developments, is the best way to assure that we will have the most capable and competent teachers and administrators, selected by their ability in an impartial way and free of discrimination. None of the City Commission’s recommendations are accompanied by any proof that they will improve the educational process.”
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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.
