Our schools need help

Editorial

This Sunday, a cadre of dedicated volunteers will hit the phones for the Jewish federation's mammoth fund-raising campaign, calling Jews throughout the Valley to ask for their support. It is easy to ignore the annual appeal, with its seemingly unending plea for funds from year to year and underlying caveat to increase giving. Yet as the community continues to grow, someone has to pay for it.

Take, for instance, the difficult situation with funding for Jewish day schools. The federation supports two such institutions as constituent agencies - Solomon Schechter Day School and the Phoenix Hebrew Academy - providing an annual allocation. Yet day-school tuition, which does not even cover costs, still is prohibitive, especially for families with more than one child in school.

Federations nationally have formally made funding day-school education a priority - but they have thus far made little real progress in developing creative funding options.

The recent decision by the local Schechter school to disaffiliate from the Conservative movement's association and move to Reform Temple Beth Israel was driven in part by finances. Locating to a new facility in a prime location would attract more students and strengthen the school's financial position, said the school's leaders.

Limited scholarship money is available, but not nearly enough to assist all those in need. The recent Arizona Supreme Court decision upholding state tax credits for contributions to private-school scholarship funds may offer some relief, but the whole concept raises problematic church/state concerns.

What we are left with is giving through traditional means - either directly to the school of our choice, or to the annual campaign.

Giving to federation and its constituent day schools helps provide our young people with a warm Jewish environment and rich Jewish experiences. If we are truly dedicated to fostering a vital Jewish community in the Valley of the Sun, we must take responsibility for funding it.

Home