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British Jewish Schools Implement New Admissions Criteria Ordered By Court

By Howard M. Friedman

Today's London Guardian reports on changes in admission policy made by Britain's publicly-funded Jewish schools after a Court of Appeal decision in June held that using the traditional Orthodox Jewish definition of who is Jewish amounts to impermissible racial discrimination instead of a permissible religious criterion. (See prior posting.) The article focuses particularly on the Jewish Free School, which it describes as "vast, in size and in reputation", and which was the school involved in the lawsuit. Now Jewish schools have introduced a "point system" to measure religious practice. Attending synagogue twice a month in addition to festivals earns a child three points. Formal Jewish education is worth one point. Voluntary work in a charity is worth one point. JFS requires three points to be considered a priority applicant. Meanwhile synagogues have seen a spike in attendance as families rush to earn points before the admissions deadline passes. The shift to assessing religious practice is consistent with criteria used by publicly-funded Christian and Muslim schools in Britain. The case is on appeal to Britain's new Supreme Court. (See prior posting.) [Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]

Full post as published by Religion Clause on September 29, 2009 (boomark / email).