By Dr. Evie Rotstein
Each year the challenge seems to grow. Jewish educators are frantically searching for qualified teachers to fill open positions in their religious schools. Research for many years has indicated that there is a shortage of well-trained teachers in Jewish settings, exacerbated by the challenge of retaining strong teachers for these part-time positions. (Westheimer, 2007). This past summer, though, the problem was particularly striking: I received more requests than ever for graduate students to fill multiple empty positions in the New York metropolitan area. Is this problem intractable, or can something be done?
Last winter, a group of seasoned NYC educators that form a peer network group hosted by the Jewish Education Project in Manhattan began to explore this very issue. They discussed how they might collaborate to offer high level professional learning to encourage current religious school teachers to become teacher leaders. One of the educators, Saul Kaiserman, teaches our “Laboratory in Teaching in Learning” course to rabbinic, cantorial and Masters in Religious Education students at HUC-JIR New York School of Education. What would happen if these educators could offer their faculty members such a course for graduate credit at a highly subsidized tuition fee? What if the congregations themselves paid for the course and then offered the teachers a salary bonus upon the completion of the course? Might avocational teachers begin to consider a career in Jewish education? There was significant back and forth as the group hammered out what they would want in such a course, whether their teachers would realistically attend such a course, how many transferable credits it would be, and ultimately if the finances would be feasible.
And behold a strategy for change was born. HUC-JIR made the bold decision to offer students enrollment at an incredibly subsidized rate, similar in cost to the introductory course for the Executive Master’s Program. The professor offered to teach the course gratis, Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York agreed to host the course, and all of the congregations were willing to provide the funding for the tuition. At the time of writing, teachers representing congregations across NYC have applied for a spot in this course.
This is a story of community collaboration and the desire to address the challenges of the teacher shortage and retention. We as leaders in the field of Jewish education must continue to find ways to recognize and validate the fact that our teachers need to continue their own growth and learning to keep them from leaving the field. We know from the data, that teachers who do not participate in ongoing professional development are less effective in the classroom and less likely to meet the emerging needs of students, administrators, and the field of Jewish education. Our hope is that this course may be the catalyst for teachers to seek a graduate degree and ultimately a full time career in Jewish education. We also need to think about the future of Jewish education leadership.
If you are interested in learning more about the course please follow this link or contact Dr. Evie Rotstein at erotstein@huc.edu.
Dr. Evie Rotstein is Director of the New York School of Education, HUC-JIR.
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Evie you are a great network weaver. I love that New York educators work in collaboration instead of competition. So much can be achieved. The next generation of children’s memories depend on this kind of work. Thanks for the inspiration.
Professional development and subsidizing degrees is something I was able to take advantage of back in 1985. Those seasoned minds in a network came up with a solution that is not new, lacks long-term viability, and does not attract new talent. Yes, there is collaboration and a willingness to address an issue, but if Jewish education is not going to look at itself honestly then this problem is not going to be solved.
Where have all the Teachers Gone? They have gone to that school down the street that is offering a proper compensation package.
If teachers were paid what they deserve there would be no shortage.
Kudos to you both Saul and Evie!
As a Director of Lifelong Learning (specifically, I am the head of our preschool, new “Religious School” design, and all of adult education), I have to point out that if we are going to talk about compensation in Jewish education, you have to consider a terribly unfair dichotomy. Salaries for our Early Childhood professionals is pathetic (most make between $17 and $25 per hour), versus those who teach in our supplemental schools ($75 – $100 per hour and few are professional teachers, at least in the suburbs). I know we are not unique in this. Add to that, early childhood educators are legally responsible to take 10-20 CEUs a year and State licensed teachers MUST get a Masters Degree within five years of receiving their BA. I just hired a 19 year old on a gap year for our supplemental school and have to pay her $45 per hour. Training is wonderful and I agree it is a great goal. But if we are going to support Jewish educators and salaries, please include our hard working Jewish Early Childhood educators who receive little to no credit for their work.