Jewish education officials hailed today the announcement by the Protestant School Board of Greater Montreal that it was ready to give associate status to elementary Jewish day schools and thus make such schools eligible for substantial financial aid under a new Quebec education law. The school board thus gave its official approval to terms of an agreement worked out with the Canadian Jewish Congress for such aid.
Under the confessional school system in Quebec, “public”schools are under either Protestant or Catholic auspices, and Jewish parents who send their children to Jewish day schools must pay school taxes regardless of which schools their children attend, Some 3,000 children attend the Jewish day schools which have applied for associate status under Bill 37, which became effective last July 1. The school board, will now enter negotiations with each of the applicant day schools. Schools which meet the school board’s educational and building standards will receive a subsidy of $30 per school month for each pupil or $300 per pupil a year for the 10-month school year.
Subsidies are provided only for the secular portion of the Jewish day school pupil’s education, with parents remaining responsible for the Jewish portion. The Jewish education officials said that the grant will cover most of the education costs, even for those Jewish schools providing Hebrew or religious courses.
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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.
