M. Ted is right. The generation of Jews growing up here in the USA from the 1930s through the 1950s were very much interested in safeguarding the separation of church and state. At that time the percentage of Jewish children attending Yeshivas (Parochial Schools), were only a fraction of what it is today. The prime concern of parents was twofold. l) That children should not be learning about Jesus in elemetary public school and become assimilated into the Christian majority and 2) That the government should not be dictating what should and should not be taught to Jewish children in the Yeshivas. A strong barrier separating church and state was the best insurance policy.

What has changed since then ? First of all, after World War II & the Holocaust, you had a very large influx of Eastern European Jews into the USA who's religious observance was far stricter than those already living here. They were determined to educate their children in an Orthodox atmosphere much in the same way as they were in the shtetls (small towns) of Europe. They did not view the separation of church & state doctrine in the same light as those who were here before them. These people also tended to have many children and the Yeshiva tuition consumed a major part of their monthly budget. Any type of funding that could help them out, be it public or private, was welcome and no legal precedent was going to stand in the way. The Yeshiva movement, especially in the New York City area has grown exponentially beyond any one's imagination. The second factor that has percipitated the present situation is the mass migration of Orthodox Jews from New York City to suburban areas such as Lawrence (the 5 towns of Long Island), Monsey (Rockland County) and Lakewood, N.J. While living in NYC, people paid a single property tax and income tax which all went into the general fund. There was one central Board Of Education. In the suburbs however, you have separate independent school districts controlling public school education. Your property taxes are separated. You pay a separate Town tax and a separate School tax. Now, for the first time, people were able to see exactly how much money they were paying for public schools from which they were deriving little or no benefit, because all their children went to Yeshivas. This was real culture shock to them and hit them hard, especially since Yeshiva tuition can cost as much as $20,000 per child per year. Multiply that by 7 or 8 children and you can see what I am talking about. Immediately the doctrine of church and state became an obstacle that had to be overcome as these parents sought more services from the public school districts in return for the mandatory taxes they were paying. As a result they received such non-educational items as bussing, remedial English and speech therapy, text books (for secular studies), etc. Now they have gone on to the next step and actually taken control of the local school boards by running candidates and electing their own members. This has happened in Lawrence, NY, Lakewood, NJ and Monsey, NY (East Ramapo Central School District). Pres. Bush's program to give more tuition tax credits has added fuel to the fire. Now that the Orthodox have taken over these school boards the old guard is worried that by trimming budgets they are going to increase class sizes, cut extra-curricular programs, and short change the public school population. Much animosity has been created on both sides and this is the climate that has given rise to the current lawsuit on this thread.
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