Orthodox Jewish Leaders Criticize Rockefeller’s Parent-aid Bill View

Orthodox leaders criticized Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller today for declaring his opposition yesterday to the Speno-Lerner Parent-Aid bill, which would provide indirect support of private schools. Rabbi Moses Sherer, executive president of Agudath Israel, declared that the bill “is a necessity if the non-public schools in New York State are to continue fulfilling their educational responsibilities in providing a large segment of the state’s student population with quality secular education.” Rabbi Bernard Goldenberg, director of school organization for Torah Umesorah, said: “We support the Speno-Lerner bill. We think it’s constitutional both in terms of the First Amendment and the New York State Constitution, inasmuch as aid is given directly to the parent and is geared to the income of the parent. We feel Gov. Rockefeller’s position in a sense is a copout on his promises to the Hebrew dayschool movement.” In opposing Speno-Lerner at a press conference in Albany yesterday. Rockefeller said it would mark “the first step to undermine, if not destroy, the public school system of our country, not just the state.” He added that such a bill would be “copied” by Southern states and would represent “the end of the whole movement to integrate the public schools of our country.

But Rockefeller reiterated his support for repeal of the so-called Blaine Amendment, which bars aid to private schools. A spokesman for the Governor declined to clarify his seeming inconsistency, preferring to let Rockefeller’s statements stand by themselves. Rabbi Sherer offered his belief that Rockefeller “is confusing the issue by joining the Blaine Amendment repeal controversy with the Speno-Lerner Parent-Aid bill, because the Parent-Aid bill is a method of helping the non-public schools now without violating the Blaine Amendment.” The Orthodox leader added that “It is therefore unfortunate that he persists in working for repeal of the Blaine Amendment when those whom he claims he is trying to help have been telling him that his efforts could only have the opposite effect.” Rabbi Sherer said he would go to Albany to explain to legislative leaders “why the Parent-Aid bill is a necessity.” Rabbi Goldenberg observed that Torah Umesorah’s basic position is “that the only concern of the state in terms of education should be the need of the child, rather than his creed, and that the state’s responsibility is to deal with the children’s education, rather than with the type of school building he attends.” The state he added, “cannot tell the child what to think but should teach the child how to think.”