According to investopedia.com, in the investment world, a value proposition refers to a company's ultimate marketing strategy to solidify its brand with consumers based on "what the company stands for, how it operates, and why it deserves their business."
So, for instance, I may want to buy a Tesla―as opposed to any other car―because:
It looks cool.
I respect Elon Musk and his values.
It offers the cutting edge of technology.
It’s better for the environment.
No value proposition can possibly be a one-size-fits-all approach, as people may have different reasons to want to buy a product.
The paradigm of value proposition can be applied to Jewish day schools. At a stressful time of online learning and exorbitant tuition fees, why should parents choose day school over Hebrew charter school, supplementary school or no formal Jewish education at all? How will Jewish day school benefit and enhance the lives of children and their families?
Outlining the value proposition of Jewish day schools is not simple because different families are looking to Jewish day schools for different reasons. Therefore, I propose professionals in the field create a menu of reasons that will resonate differently for all families, while appealing to a broad swath of the Jewish community.
Here’s what others have written:
Rosov Consulting wrote a report on Jewish day schools for The Jewish Federations of North America in 2017 to make the case for day schools:
What is the case for day school besides that they are less worse than the alternatives? What is their special value proposition? The answer is rooted in their promise of deep and ongoing learning that integrates multiple dimensions of the child’s identity; their nurture of thick relationships between children, and between children and adults; and — above all — their embeddedness in the local community. Close to home, they are places where communities of adults and children find ultimate purpose. They help families wrestle with challenging social pathologies and with the fearsome onslaught of galloping technology. They are safe places. For some, that makes them too cloistered. In smaller communities, their small size can make them feel suffocating. For others, it is these same features that make them so appealing: they serve as a bridgehead from which to connect to the world informed by timeless Jewish values and enriched by strong family-like relationships and sustained, personal attention.
This is a valuable framing, and it seems to me that there is a great deal more to flesh out in order to convince many parents to jump into or stay in the pool of day school education.
Dr. Elliot Rabin, Director of Thought Leadership at Prizmah, makes the case for Jewish day school. In short, his article propounds the reasons that, in the midst of the coronavirus upheaval, Jewish day schools can provide students with a caring, student-centered, nimble community informed by excellent learning and Jewish values; a place that models partnerships with parents and respect and care for teachers. It is a compelling piece; however, aside from the “Jewish” in “Jewish values,” these reasons could apply to any high quality private or public school.
There are many other notable articles, one of the more recent being the piece in eJewish Philanthropy by David Zimand, the former Head of School of Gideon Hausner in Palo Alto, in which he homes in on the aspects of Jewish wisdom, community, perseverance, and critical thinking skills.
So let me add my value proposition points in support of Jewish day school education as one major path for assuring current and future Jewish connections for our children. They will:
Learn the breadth of Jewish texts so that ancient and modern Jewish wisdom can inform their life choices.
Learn Modern Hebrew language together with Biblical, Talmudic, and liturgical Hebrew, understanding how Jews communicated then and how Jews can connect now in our universal language.
Develop strong social bonds with other Jewish kids, enabling them to develop cohort communities with like-minded (but hopefully not too like-minded) friends and acquaintances.
Get to see the world through Jewish lenses, not only in Judaic Studies classes, but through the humanities, science, math, and beyond.
Benefit from caring teachers who can further model for the students what it means to be a good Jew and a good person in today’s world.
Be immersed in more than 1000 hours per year in a Jewish atmosphere (whether in person or online), and there is nothing quite as efficacious in creating a culture as an immersive experience.
Participate in Jewish rituals and receive both explicit and implicit exposure to Jewish values which will be revisited throughout the years, targeting each of their developmental states.
Reside in an educational space that is safe from anti-Israel and anti-semitic rhetoric while learning how to respond to such polemics and how to openly listen to various sides of an issue while coming to their own personal conclusions.
Develop an understanding that social justice emanates from the Torah and will be Jewishly guided in how to execute their vision of social justice.
Explore their own relationship with the Divine in a supportive venue.
Become imbued with Jewish intellectual, emotional, and spiritual ideas and feelings to sustain them throughout their lives.
The list above is long and intricate. But this is what we aim for when we speak of a rounded Jewish education. If we believe this, then we, as Jewish educators, had better make sure that we deliver on what we promise. It is not easy, but it is necessary if we want to attract more students and families into the Jewish day school sphere and meet our mandate of creating a stronger next generation of Jews in North America.