By now, schools have communicated return-to-school plans to their respective parent bodies. We hope and we pray the transition to September learning will be medically safe, educationally successful, emotionally and psychologically safe.

Though questions persist and absolute certainty in decision-making is impossible, our community has arrived at this place with relative calm and an accompanying sense of the mutual respect and abiding decency that each of us owes the other.

Intra-societal feuding however, still characterizes the discussion in the United States about the uncertainties surrounding re-opening our schools. As we did last week, we are featuring an essay this week that highlights some of the deep anguished feelings about return-to-school.

The essay is entitled “Don’t skip out on Jewish day school this year. It’s an ethical issue.” It was written by Jack C. Bendheim and published in the Times of Israel last week. Bendheim is president of SAR Academy & SAR High School in Riverdale New York.

He writes from a yeshiva perspective but on behalf of Jewish education broadly. By pointing to parental decisions about whether or not to enroll their children this year in Jewish school as a matter of ethics, Bendheim courts controversy, even though he purports to qualify his words and his opinions. The qualification does not work. But his views are important to read.

We reproduce his concluding words, for they are the gravamen of the message about Jewish education.

“For centuries, the Jewish people have confronted physical danger, spiritual threat, economic challenge. Through it all, the Jewish people have championed Jewish education, even in the most dangerous of times. It is now our turn. We must take a stand for Jewish education. These great communities, our schools, and their leaders have worked so hard for so long to provide children with the Jewish education that we have come to love and respect. We are all in it together to preserve our day school system. We must do all that we can to keep it strong for a post-COVID world.”

•••

Be safe. Stay safe. Be well. Stay well. Be strong. Stay strong.

Shabbat shalom

GAJE

Since writing last week’s update, the Government of Ontario has provided official guidelines for the return to school in September. As of this writing, parents await official instructions from Jewish day schools to advise them how their respective school will apply the province’s requirements.

It is our hope, if not also our expectation, that the transition to September teaching will be safe for all concerned, effective and conducted in a manner that exemplarizes civic and social order and mutual respect.

Such is not the expectation, alas, in the United States.

The Great Disruption, as many there have taken to calling the human, social, economic, cultural and medical impact of Covid-19, has inspired educators and thinkers of diverse disciplines to reflect upon and re-imagine the Covid-altered future of their society.

Last week Eric Cohen, executive director of the Tikvah Fund and the author of In the Shadow of Progress: Being Human in the Age of Technology (2008), published a comprehensive article in Mosaic Magazine entitled The Jewish Schools of the Future.

The article is far-ranging in its scope. It examines Jewish schools, Jewish education for young and for older, and the place of meaningfully expressed Jewishness within a culture and society pulling individuals ever more strongly away from traditional roots. Cohen offers suggestions for “marrying Jewish classical education and novel technology, and confronting the cultural crisis with Jewish exceptionalism.”

Despite the fact that Cohen is addressing fellow American Jews, core observations of his cri de Coeur apply also to our Canadian context. Therefore, inasmuch as we part of mega-North American culture, we should pay close attention to Cohen’s essay, then adopt and adapt its relevant principles. The essay is long, some 7,400 words. But it may likely prove to be a seminal document along the currently cluttered path to future Jewish life in North America.

We reproduce but two key passages from the introductory portion of the article.

“To weather the current storm, the Jewish community needs to focus nearly all its energy—and philanthropic resources—on American Jewish schools. There are many worthy recipients of Jewish dollars: hospitals, orchestras, myriad social causes. There are also many seductive misuses of Jewish money, including donations to most American colleges and universities (more on this later). But under duress, Jewish day schools should come first, in the belief that only American Jews can sustain these indispensable institutions, and that our first responsibility as Jews is the perpetuation of Jewish life one school-aged child at a time.

“Yet even as we rally—rightly—to sustain our existing Jewish schools, the current moment invites us to think anew about some long-standing challenges. Can we build viable schools that prepare traditional American Jews to live in an untraditional age? Can we integrate modern technologies of learning while opposing the excesses of modernity? Can we lower costs while promoting Jewish excellence? Can we win access to public funding without succumbing to the deforming regulations of the administrative state? And will we resist the progressive, anti-religious, anti-Zionist wave of elite American culture, or will we capitulate to our own gradual demoralization and demise? These are not easy challenges, but as the wealthiest and freest Diaspora community in Jewish history, we can take solace in knowing that Jews have faced much grimmer circumstances before.”

Cohen’s key statement is worth repeating:

“Our first responsibility as Jews is the perpetuation of Jewish life one school-aged child at a time.”

GAJE shares his view.

•••

Be safe. Stay safe. Be well. Stay well. Be strong. Stay strong.

Shabbat shalom

GAJE

As of this writing, the uncertainty hovering over the re-opening of schools significantly complicates families’ abilities to plan their lives. What form will learning take on the first Tuesday after Labour Day? In-class? Zoom? Hybrid?

In keeping with the conservative-evidence-based-science-protect-human-life-first philosophy that has characterized Ontario’s approach to contending with the virus, there are increasing signs that health officials may allow some form of modified, physically distant, in-class learning in September. No official governmental or school announcements has been made yet.

By sad comparison, the debate about the return to school is raging in the United States, much like the impact there of the virus itself.

Two instructive articles about the effect of COVID-19 on day schools in the U.S. appeared recently. They command our attention.

Emily Benedek, an experienced freelance journalist, wrote an article that appeared in Tablet, entitled, “COVID-19 Is Imperiling The Jewish Day School.” She traces the economic impact of the pandemic upon families’ abilities to enroll their children in day school.

Perhaps in partial response to Benedek’s article that appeared the week prior, Ben Harris, an experienced journalist with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, authored “Are Families Fleeing Jewish Day Schools? Far From It, But It’s Complicated.” Harris writes about the effect on day school enrollment of an in-country migratory phenomenon unfolding in the US as a result of the pandemic. Some families are moving from large metropolitan centres to smaller ones, seeking some form of refuge from the virus as well as day schools in which they can enroll their children.

The situation and experience described by Benedek will be more familiar to GTA parents than those described by Harris. Nevertheless, they are both worthwhile reading.

Especially worthwhile and even powerful is a statement by Benedek in the course of her research: “The day-school accomplishment is deep, preparing students to be fluent in their ancient tradition and qualified for admission to elite colleges.”

Her observation resonates with the beliefs of all day school parents irrespective of locale.

•••

Be safe. Stay safe. Be well. Stay well. Be strong. Stay strong.

Shabbat shalom

GAJE

Many years ago Joni Mitchell reminded us quite poetically that even dragging our heels won’t help to slow down the inevitable, cyclical return of the seasons.

And so, even now, some six weeks before school resumes after Labour Day, educators administrators, and community planners are forging the best instructional possibilities and learning environments for our children and grandchildren for the first day of school.

This very process is happening throughout most of the pandemic-struck world.

UJA’s Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Education welcomes serious-minded input from concerned individuals on the question of how best to bring our children back to school in September.

Daniel Held, the executive director of the Centre has issued an invitation to the caring public to offer suggestions and share ideas on this important matter. He asked:

“Do you have suggestions for space or facilities that our community’s schools could use to spread out classes and student activities?”

“Have you seen a brilliant approach to physical distance learning that enables children to safely gather in person?”

If you do, please send ideas and suggestions to ideas@ujafed.org.

The Centre will share the best ideas with their partner schools.

Alas, it is true we cannot slow down the circles of seasonal renewal. The carousel of time turns in its indefatigable inevitability. But what is not inevitable is our ability to become involved earnestly and purposefully in time’s turning, to do our utmost to make the renewal more meaningful and possibly too more successful for our young ones.

Shabbat shalom.

Be well. Stay well.

GAJE

Campaigning to help make Jewish education affordable is built upon a foundational belief that such education is vital to assure a meaningful Jewish future without which there is no meaningful future for the world at large.

As the school year was drawing to a close and as the full extent of Covid-19 implications were shaping into truer focus, Elana G. Kahn, Associate Dean for Outreach at Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership, wrote an essay entitled “Jewish Education is an Essential Service During Crisis and Always.”

The key message of her essay deserves wider distribution.

“As a society, the pandemic has led us to pare down our understanding of what is essential; not bars, but supermarkets; not barbershops but hospitals; not classrooms, but education. In our Jewish sphere, fighting hatred is essential, but it is not enough; we also need engagement and education. If we are to build a robust, healthy, and innovative Jewish community, we must continue to invest in education; we must know our Jewish selves.

“Our community has long argued about what is essential: How do we raise funds for education and culture when there are people who need to be fed and fights that need to be fought? The answer is messy – “yes, and.”

“We must have two hands active at the same time – one dealing with urgent needs and one planting for the future. That is how our community has always moved through challenges, by continuing to care for the intellectual, spiritual, and emotional needs of the people in our community. One hand in the present and the other ensuring the future…

“Learning about Judaism and our Jewish lives allows us to access wisdom that connects us to generations of Jews and helps us orient our lives around ancient and brilliant ideas.”

Those ancient and brilliant ideas, of which Kahn wrote, hold the key for a better future.

•••

Be safe. Stay safe. Be well. Stay well. Be strong. Stay strong.

Shabbat shalom

GAJE

GAJE’s chief focus is trying to help make Jewish education affordable. But as readers also know, we are also public proponents of the proposition that Jewish education is the pre-eminent way to foster and instill in our children the tools and knowledge of Jewish literacy and the accompanying lifelong sense of belonging to our wondrous people.

Now comes a ground-breaking from the Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education at George Washington University, led by a research team from Child Trends together with a researcher at Brandeis University, that suggests the earlier such education is launched, the stronger the likelihood that meaningful Jewish identity in our children will result in the future.

According to an article posted on eJewishphilanthopy announcing the study results, the study “offers new and deep insights into how Jewish early care and education (ECE) can serve as a gateway for greater and long-term engagement in Jewish life.”

Among its novel approaches and conclusions, the study differentiates between engagement in Jewish life and membership or involvement in Jewish institutions. This is not surprising. It follows upon recent trends especially among younger generations who are striving to define for themselves what comprises meaningful Jewish life rather than automatically adopting the loyalties and Jewish “behaviours” of their parents and/or grandparents.

The study is called “Exploring the association between Jewish Early Care and Education and Jewish Engagement: Research to Inform Practices.” It is described as the first rigorous investigation of Jewish engagement among families with young children and the role of Jewish ECE in their lives.

The new study once again attests to the importance of Jewish education. Most parental experience, especially during the pandemic, attests to its excellence. GAJE strives to help make it affordable.

•••

Be safe. Stay safe. Be well. Stay well. Be strong. Stay strong.

Shabbat shalom

GAJE

It is not excessive, given the unusual circumstances of the educational year just concluded, to repeat a statement of thanks to all of the teachers of all our students.

The following statement was written last week by one of the pre-eminent educator-scholars of our time, Dr. Erica Brown, Director, Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership, Graduate School of Education and Human Development, The George Washington University.

“As we put an end to one of the strangest school years on record, we at the Mayberg Center want to acknowledge the remarkable energy and commitment of teachers – from pre-K through rabbinic school and beyond – who had to become instant online educators for many months. Our teachers had to re-think the content and format of lessons and sustain student engagement on a flat screen, often while managing families of their own in the same space. This was difficult, creative and strenuous work. Many have described it as the hardest work they’ve ever done. Maimonides writes that the world endures because of the fervent study of school children in the classrooms of their teachers (Laws of Torah Study, Mishneh Torah 2:1).”

Dr. Brown directs her readers to a brief video that “honors the dedication of our teachers in upholding the precious value of education”. She asks that we “share it with a teacher who has made a difference in your life.”

THANK YOU TEACHERS.

•••

Be safe. Stay safe. Be well. Stay well. Be strong. Stay strong.

Shabbat shalom

GAJE

Most of the schools in our community this week completed their academic programs for the year. It was an unprecedented year. Without any real notice or time to prepare, daily life across planet earth was thrown into medical emergency, societal tumult and economic mayhem. But as human beings do well, we adapted. And as Jews have learned to do throughout our history, we innovated as necessary and surmounted most of the difficulties.

We owe a great debt to the men and women who run our schools. For they were at the forefront leading the way against Covid-19. After the initial assessments and adjustments, the community schools adapted and, for the most part, brought our children – especially the older ones – safely and happily back to a meaningful learning environment. Heartfelt thanks and virtual hugs to our teachers. Kol hakavod to them.

And kol hakavod to the children who also adapted to the new rules of schools and to their parents who continue to move heaven and earth for their young ones to transform radically abnormal times into life-sustaining, secure, loving environments and normalized life.

Bless them all.
•••

We continue to feature evidence of the ongoing debate regarding the anomalous nature of Ontario’s educational policies.

Last week in the Financial Post, Matthew Lau published an opinion piece entitled, “Let’s have diversity of school choices”.

Lau supports the recent introduction in Alberta of Bill 15, the Choice in Education Act, that aims at expanding freedom of educational choice for families and improving access to educational diversity.

As have many others, he points out the benefits of allowing more competition in the educational system. “Student test scores at Alberta’s charter and independent schools are consistently higher than in its government-run schools. Similarly, in British Columbia, students from families with comparable incomes achieve higher test scores on average at independent schools than at government-run schools… Beyond these academic differences, recent surveys from Cardus, a think-tank, find that graduates of independent schools are more likely to volunteer and donate to charity.”

It is our hope that Queen’s Park is taking notice of the growing conversation about education in this province.

•••

Be safe. Stay safe. Be well. Stay well. Be strong. Stay strong.

Shabbat shalom

GAJE

The attempt to ameliorate educational policy injustices still comes before the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC).

According to reports in the media, the Supreme Court last week compelled the government of British Columbia to ensure that francophone speakers, even where their numbers are small, have a right to their own high-quality schools. A francophone school board and a group of francophone parents in B.C. launched the action some 10 years ago alleging that the poor quality of school facilities in some of the communities where francophone families reside effectively deprived them of the right to equal educational facilities to those serving the majority anglophone communities. The case involved 17 communities in which francophone speakers live. In all, according to The Globe and Mail, the francophone board in B.C. lists 6,200 students out of a provincial total of 576,000.

In a 7-2 decision, the SCC ruled to establish the appropriate quality for the minority school, the comparison need not be to a majority language school of similar size in a small rural community.
The minority language group is entitled to schools of equal quality to schools of comparable size wherever those schools exist in the province including in the large cities.

The Globe and Mail further reported that the court said cost should take a back seat to educational needs when a province assesses what it must do to meet its constitutional obligation to an official language minority. Cost cannot be considered at all when a court decides whether infringements on children’s right to an education in their own language are justified under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Clearly the facts of this decision to not apply to the situation in which we are involved relating to independent schools. However, there are some critical points to note from the decision that are relevant to our circumstances:

• Justice in educational issues is a recurring subject of litigation at the highest court in the land.
• The SCC appears moved to interpret the constitution in a manner that gives full effect to the rights enunciated in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
• Perhaps the SCC could be persuaded – based upon changed societal circumstances and changed approaches to interpreting the Charter of Rights and Freedoms since 1996 – to reassess the Adler decision in a manner that places treatment by the government of Ontario of families whose children attend independent schools within the Charter’s reach?
• If the SCC does extend the reach of the Charter, would it also invoke its ruling that costs should take a back seat to educational needs?

These questions and others will be resolved in challenging the government of Ontario to bring fairness and justice to its own educational funding policies.

•••

Be safe. Stay safe. Be well. Stay well. Be strong. Stay strong.

Shabbat shalom

GAJE

While our attention has been focused on pandemic concerns and more recently on the social and civil tumult in the United States, many of us may have missed an interesting piece of news out of Alberta.

On May 28, the Government of Alberta tabled a bill to enshrine more choice for parents in choosing the system of education for their children. In introducing Bill 15, Education minister, Adriana LaGrange, said the government was strengthening “the idea that parents have the right to choose the type of education their children receive.”

The initiative by Alberta is aimed primarily at facilitating home-schooling. It also eases the path for the opening of charter schools in the province. It therefore does not apply in all respects to the concerns GAJE has raised. However, Bill 15 does reinforce the importance of independent schools in the Alberta educational structure.

The bill specifically states that independent schools are “important in providing parents and students with choice in education.”

Minister LaGrange reinforced that statement in her press remarks:
“Private or independent schools have played a very important role in choice for parents in this province and I do believe that they felt that they were not valued but threatened under the previous government.”

According to a CBC report posted by Lucie Edwardson on May 28, LaGrange said the proposed educational changes would not result in increased funding for independent schools. “They still only receive 70 per cent funding and they do not receive any capital funding.”

But Minister LaGrange did elaborate upon why the government made the effort to reference independent schools in the bill despite the fact those schools were receiving no additional funding. “This is strictly true to give them the comfort and to reinforce what we heard from parents… that they value the choice and that they see independent schools as a very real choice that they want to make for their children.”

Michael Van Pelt, president and CEO of Cardus — a Canadian faith-based, public-policy think tank — extolled the initiative by Alberta. “If COVID did something, it showed us that we need flexibility in educational formats and educational approaches, and the bill does that, too,” he said.

It should be also be noted that in 2018, Cardus produced the report Better is Possible, which found increased independent school enrolment in Alberta would help spur public school improvement and accountability.

The very same arguments aimed at Alberta about spurring public school improvement and accountability can surely be directed at Ontario. And can one imagine how different the funding situation would be for our community if the Government of Ontario contributed 70 percent of the schools’ non-capital fund needs?

Ontario is stuck in an educational policy mire. For reasons of politics, Ontario governments have refused to extricate themselves from that mire. Reasons of justice and fairness have not impelled successive Ontario governments from taking the proper policy steps. Perhaps reasons of educational excellence, financial efficiency and budgeting accountability as implied in Alberta’s model will inspire them?

•••

Be safe. Stay safe. Be well. Stay well. Be strong. Stay strong.

Shabbat shalom

GAJE