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Jewish World Review July 13 , 1998 / 19 Tamuz, 5758
Jonathan S. Tobin
The Wisconsin ruling is a victory for supporters of choice that will set the
stage for a Supreme Court ruling on the issue. Given the recent trend on the
court of allowing more and more forms of support for private and religious
education, school choice now has an excellent chance of being validated by a
high court ruling.
Though these circumstances have changed, the knee-jerk reaction of Jewish
liberals to the possibility of opening up educational choices to parents has
not. They still thrive on the annual "December dilemma" controversies in
which Jews see themselves as threatened by the imposition of Christmas trees and
carols on innocent Jewish eyes and ears. Indeed, as some wags in the Jewish
community have said, without this annual Jewish communal conniption fit
season, some elements of American Jewry would have no way to express a
distinct identity!
I believe both the law and the cause of education were well served by the
latest Wisconsin ruling.
Rather than abandon poor and middle class inner city kids to failed public
system, school choice gives children the hope of a better education. The
real alternative to the failure of the public schools is to offer parents a
choice and therefore a chance for their children to succeed. Choice offers parents
and students the opportunity to decide where they will get the best
schooling.
It would open up the education system to the genius of the marketplace which
has worked wonders elsewhere in American society by forcing schools to
compete for students. This is a principle which has made American universities the
envy of the world. As such, school choice is an essential part of any
serious reform of our education Fears about these programs undermining the First Amendment are similarly unwarranted. As an indirect payment to parents and students, School Choice
is no different than the G.I. Bill or numerous other programs which legally
channel funds indirectly to non-public institutions.
Flake said he supported vouchers, "because they represent for so many the
last hope of obtaining a quality education. We must offer alternatives and
vouchers makes sense."
I asked Flake about one of the most powerful anti-vouchers arguments -- and
the one cited most often by Jewish opponents of school choice -- the idea
that extremist groups like the Nation of Islam will use vouchers to create their
own schools. He replied indignantly that the same "regulatory regimen" which
certifies public, private and parochial schools today would apply to any
such school. He told me that we would do better to "leave it to the good sense of
the marketplace. You can speak of any kind of extremist group -- white or
black -- but vouchers gives the money directly to parents to choose, not the
extremists.
In places like Hartford, Connecticut, where city schools are almost totally
segregated by race and academically suspect (one of the largest public high
schools in Hartford was actually de-certified by state academic authorities
in 1997), it is clear that the public system is failing the overwhelmingly
minority student population. Some ideologues would prefer to divert the
discussion of this issue into the intellectual dead-end of racism or to
calls for increasing the already sky-high budgets of urban public schools
Ironically, Hartford's public schools have achieved the distinction of
having the lowest academic ratings and the highest funding levels of any school
district in the state.
But a Jewish community that is committed to the concept that achieving
social justice is an integral part of Jewish belief at some point must ask itself
if it is only prepared to offer minorities platitudes about separationism and
big government solutions that have already failed. Jews have a moral obligation
not to stand in the way of the struggle of inner city students in their
battle for a decent education.
Unfortunately, the cost of this education is prohibitive for most middle
class Jews. It may be argued, with much justice, that the primary responsibility
for alleviating this burden rests on the Jewish community itself and
specifically
on Jewish Federations --- the Jewish umbrella fundraising organizations. But
given the failure of most Jewish Federations to address this need by making
day schools a top priority, many Jews have turned to vouchers and school
choice plans as a possible alternative.
School choice has the potential to make Jewish day schools an affordable
alternative to public schools. However, the fact that these schools might be
a
crucial factor in addressing American Jewry's most pressing problem, has
not
been enough to change the opinions of a Jewish leadership which is still
wedded for selfish as well as principled reasons, to the problems
and the solutions of the past.
While real threats to our liberties exist, such as the failed Istook
amendment
(which would legalize public school prayer), school choice is not such a
threat. Scare tactics and red herrings not withstanding, choice does not
establish religion. It merely respects the right of each child to have the
best education available.
Contrary to the doomsayers, choice will not destroy the public schools but
allow competition to make them better. They will not empower extremists but
they will empower parents of every race and religion to help save their
children. A Jewish community which believes that these children made in the
image of G-d just as much as Jewish children, cannot afford to stand in the
way of choice for narrow ideological reasons.
School choice is not a panacea for the ills of America's urban areas any
more
than it would magically solve Jewish continuity problems. But it is a
healthy
step in the right direction which deserves a full trial. For the most
parochial as well as the most universalist of reasons, American Jews have
good
reasons to support school
A step closer
to school choice
VOUCHERS FOR PRIVATE AND RELIGIOUS SCHOOLS have long been bugaboos for the
organized Jewish community. The idea that the state would allow parents to
use at least a portion of the tax dollars they pay to educate their children
outside of the public system has sent shivers down the collective spine of
most Jewish organizations.
Their reasoning is that such measures will undermine the separation of
religion and state as well as destroy the public schools. No doubt some of
them are even more scared following a ruling last month by the Wisconsin
Supreme Court which ruled that Milwaukee's school choice program is legal.
Under that scheme, underprivileged children will now be able to attend
religious as well as private schools of their choice.
Living in the past
Only a generation ago, Jewish religious schools were confined to a minority
of the most fervently Orthodox communities. The only large-scale parochial school system
was Catholic. It was seen by most Jews as exclusionary and a danger to
democracy and therefore to the Jews. Only the public schools guaranteed Jews
a place in American society.
African-American leaders speak out for choice
Last year, at a Washington symposium on the issue, I met two of the more
interesting advocates of school choice: State Rep. Polly Williams of
Milwaukee (who sponsored the measure recently approved by the Wisconsin court) and
former U.S. Congressman Floyd Flake of New York City. Both are African-Americans who rightly believe their community's children have been abandoned by the public educational system and liberal opponents of vouchers.
The Jewish stake in school choice
In contrast to the not-so-distant past, the greatest problems facing
American Jewry are not those of domestic anti-Semitism or threats to Jewish
populations abroad. In the face of spiraling rates of assimilation and intermarriage,
anyone who is serious about the continued survival of American Jewry knows
that Jewish day schools - whose numbers are growing every year - are
essential to the Jewish future. The sort of comprehensive Jewish education that these
schools provide is the best --- and perhaps only real antidote to the ignorance
and apathy that afflicts contemporary American Jewry.
JWR contributor Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He was
the recipient of the American Jewish Press Association highest award: First
Place in The Louis Rapoport Award for Excellence in Commentary and Editorial
Writing. The Rapoport award is named for the longtime editor of the
Jerusalem Post and was given to Mr. Tobin at the AJPA's 1997 Simon Rockower Awards dinner
in Cleveland on June 18, 1998.
