The Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington said today that it was opposed to a recommendation by a Maryland commission to establish a $14 million scholarship fund for non-public school pupils in the state. The commission was appointed by Gov. Marvin Mandel, of Maryland to study state aid to non-public school education.
The Washington JCC embraces heavily Jewish suburban areas of Maryland as well as the District of Columbia. It claimed that the proposed scholarship program “does nothing for educational reform but in fact re-enforces the status quo.” The council said that Americans have the right to maintain private schools but must preserve the important American principle of separation of church and state.
“It is unthinkable,” the JCC statement said, “that at a time of fiscal crisis in the public schools, the Governor and the legislature should be pressured to provide a subsidy for essentially middle class parents who have determined to send their children to private schools.”
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.
