The Jewish Public Affairs Committee

Each year, over 800 students from throughout California spend months preparing for the state’s largest annual high school speech competition, organized by the California High School Speech Association – an organization whose mission states their aim to “encourage, support and sponsor both curricular and co-curricular oral communication which will empower students to be productive participants in American society and the global community” and includes the goal that “[e]very student will develop interpersonal skills necessary for establishing understanding among members of a diverse society.”

In May of this year, it was discovered that the 2008 State Tournament is scheduled for April 18-20, dates that unintentionally conflict with the first nights of Passover, among the holiest of religious observances for the Jewish people. The conflict was brought to the attention of the CHSSA’s Executive Council by several Jewish community organizations that requested that CHSSA reschedule the event so that a large portion of the tournament’s participants and coaches would not be excluded from this extraordinary educational experience. With great respect and admiration for the skills that CHSSA fosters both within the curriculum and as extracurricular activities, we had hoped that with ample notice – over 10 months – the organization would move to change the dates of the event. The majority of these requests were ignored.  

Representatives of the Jewish community were subsequently allowed to attend a September meeting of the CHSSA Executive Council to formally present our concerns. At that meeting, a reasonable request seeking a two-week investigatory period – time to consider the matter and explore the feasibility of changing the tournament’s date – was struck down.  

Isn’t it ironic that an organization dedicated to fostering debate and understanding amongst members of a diverse society was so quick to cut off of discussion?

TAKE ACTION

1. Please call or email the CHSSA’s Executive Council to voice your opposition to their refusal to change the 2008 competition date.

Contact information is available by clicking HERE.

2. Contact your local school board and ask them to weigh in on the matter.

Los Angeles Unified School District : Click HERE (scroll down to find your Board Member).

Beverly Hills Unified School District: Click HERE.

Culver City Unified School District: Click HERE.

Las Virgenes Unified School District: Click HERE.

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District: Email brd@smmusd.org or call (310) 450-8338.

3. Join the coalition of community organizations working together to resolve this conflict:    

Contact Caron Spector of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles at (323) 761-8163 or CSpector@JewishLA.org to add your organization’s name to the growing list of groups involved, including:

The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California (JPAC), the Board of Rabbis of Southern California, the Board of Rabbis of Northern California, the Los Angeles Council of Religious Leaders, and other s.

4. Ask leaders of other faith communities to register their concern by contacting the CHSSA and joining the community coalition.

TALKING POINTS

Time to Act

• With nearly seven months remaining until the debate, there is still time to move the dates of the event in order to allow participation by all the hard working students and coaches throughout California.
• There are precedents for changing dates on short notice for such major events for students. For example, the Fremont Union High School District changed the date of a statewide band competition scheduled to take place in the district on a date that conflicted with a Jewish high holiday. The Superintendent at that time, Joe Hamilton, and the Board said that the District could not in good conscience knowingly eliminate Jewish students from the competition. At another time, many schools in the San Francisco Bay area changed the first day of school so as not to conflict with the date of an important Jewish Religious observance ( Rosh Hashana) and cause Jewish students to miss the first day of school.

Prevent Future Conflicts

• The Jewish community is aware that it can be difficult for schools and school-related organizations to schedule important events and avoid conflicts. That is why many Jewish communities regularly send multi-year calendars of major Jewish religious observances to school superintendents and school principals. With thoughtful consideration for the diversity that makes California so unique, conflicts like this CAN be avoided.
• CHSSA should adopt a formal policy or amendment to their by-laws stating that tournaments will not conflict with religious observances. No faith groups should be excluded from these extraordinary educational experiences.

Respect for Religious Observances

• Passover is a major religious observance for the entire spectrum of Jewish families. Passover is a time that families come together to acknowledge the privations of their people’s history as slaves, and to affirm their commitment to justice for all peoples, everywhere.
• If the dates of the California Speech Association’s Championship for 2008 are not changed from April 18-20, Jewish students throughout California who have worked hard all year to have the honor of participating, and many of their coaches, will not be able to participate.