http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satelli...cle%2FShowFull



From news article:



It is that irrefutable impact of Jewish education that moves me to make the strategic proposal that the organized Jewish community in America guarantee a free Jewish education to the children of all members of the Jewish polity. I do so against the backdrop of a 20-year effort to position Jewish education as the top priority of the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Conservative movement, in consequence of which a powerful panoply of new and invigorated institutions has made Jewish education the growth sector of the movement and the guarantor of its future.

I would define citizenship as membership in a synagogue or a Jewish community center, the great aquifers of the organized Jewish community and the source of its social capital. The entitlement program should encourage unaffiliated Jews to join in order to qualify, thus enhancing both synagogues and JCCs. Parents would be allowed to choose the educational track most suitable to their circumstances - a day school, congregational school or Jewish summer camp. The Jewish community would fund their preference (limited to one track), maximally from first through 12th grade, minimally as long as the parents wish. The entitlement would include the children of patrilineal families up to the age of bat or bar mitzva, at which point they would be expected to undergo a rite of conversion. In short, the entitlement program would be administered on the basis of parity across the denominational spectrum.





What do those of you involved in Jewish education think about this? Do you have a better idea?