Two more Jewish organizations took positions against President Johnson’s aid to education proposals over the weekend. B’nai B’rith’s Anti-Defamation League, meeting here in its annual conference, and the Jewish War Veterans of America announced their opposition to provisions that would benefit children in non-public schools.
The Anti-Defamation League adopted a resolution opposing the use of public funds for aid to “sectarian” schools at the primary and secondary levels. In a heated debate of its national commission, the League rejected a plea by its program director Oscar Cohen for “compassion for the children of America” and went on record against the President’s proposals.
The pending legislation on Federal aid to education, based on the child-benefit principle, envisages support to children attending private as well as public schools. The bill would provide funds for books and educational materials for children in private and parochial schools. It also would permit parochial school children to attend supplementary education centers financed by federal funds.
The Anti-Defamation League moved decisively to take a position on the education bill in the face of reservations by some of its members that it had not devoted sufficient study to the subject. In its resolution, the ADL urged that any proposals on Federal aid to education incorporate “specific standards and safeguards” against sectarian influence on the public school system.
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