Who will teach the next generation of Jewish children? - opinion

We know that the emerging crisis in recruiting, training, and retaining talented educators is not new. The seminal 1990 publication, A Time to Act, the report by the Commission on Jewish Education in North America, had, at its core, a plan “to infuse Jewish education with a new vitality by recruiting large numbers of talented and dedicated educators.” Then, as now, the educator pipeline was a top priority for Jewish day schools in North America.

Over 30 years ago, A Time to Act galvanized school leaders and philanthropists. The report created momentum that spawned new day schools (especially community schools); elevated the value of Jewish education; stimulated community-level support; funded research and data to reliably measure the needs and accomplishments of the field; and prompted new ways of developing the profession of Jewish education. We stand today on the shoulders of giants such as Mort Mandel, who chaired the Commission on Jewish Education for North America.

Mandel was known for his vision and leadership, as well as his direct language. 

It's all about the who

“It’s all about the ‘who,’” he would say, meaning “who” will lead the field of Jewish education, “who” will teach our future generations, and “who” will make sure our schools are the best they can possibly be. Those five words of Mandel’s are, today, more relevant than ever.

The Prizmah-JEIC (Jewish Education Innovation Challenge) Educator Pipeline Working Group will soon release a playbook on the professional pipeline. That working group identified the pillars of the day-school pipeline, such as identifying and encouraging young people to pursue a career in Jewish day-school education or creating an environment in schools where teachers can succeed.

We echo Mandel’s statement and take up the baton to catalyze a new era for educators. Just as we look back on the lofty goals of A Time to Act as the harbinger of what Jonathan Krasner calls a “new zeitgeist” for Jewish education, so too, today we ambitiously envision building a new reality for the educator pipeline that will have a pervasive and long-lasting impact.

Thanks to the dedicated efforts of the members of our working group, we have the ideas that will move the frustratingly sticky needle, especially if both funders and practitioners sign on and maintain focus for more than a year or two. 

Our mission is now to make those ideas take root in schools, communities, and across North America. Some of this will be specific to Jewish day schools; some will reflect common issues with other areas of Jewish education and Jewish professional life. For the latter, we seek to partner with our peers and colleagues across the Jewish ecosystem. 

This can be another seminal moment if we appreciate the depth and breadth of what will be needed to make transformational change.

Take, for example, one of the working group’s priority initiatives: an office for Jewish day school educator recruitment. We informally refer to this as “writing the Jewish education scouting playbook,” developing a system for identifying and nurturing the talents of promising future educators.

We can expand current recruitment and provide pathways to teaching, ensure that future teachers understand the avenues of training and support, and make the idea of pursuing a career as a Jewish day school educator more accessible and desirable. What happens to the kindergarten pupil who says he/she wants to be a teacher but by the time he/she is in high school has gotten the message that careers in teaching are poorly paid and not respected?

Our schools themselves can nurture future teachers more explicitly. 

At school graduations, a few heads of school are bold enough to invite seniors to consider education as their career. What if that was the norm at all graduations and when careers are discussed?

In a post-COVID, post-October 7 world, the challenges to the professional pipeline for Jewish education continue to grow. 

Exciting opportunities for day schools, such as growing enrollment and schools’ commitment to excellence, risk being thwarted by a lack of enough great educators. Thanks to the bold work set in motion after A Time to Act, day schools in the 2020s have substantially higher enrollment and are much more professionalized and financially stable than in the 1980s.

Now is the critical time to address the ubiquitous “who” question and secure for our schools an ample supply of professional educators who can deliver the unique Jewish day school mission for future generations.

The writer is CEO of Prizmah, Center for Jewish Day Schools, based in New York.