<HTML>Thank you again for your great work on the list!
I will re-state a plea that has been issued before - it would be helpful
if people writing in would identify their institutional affiliations -
even if they write often. As many people write to the list, it is hard to
remember where everyone is teaching, and always useful to have such
information.
I would like to raise an issue that I think deserves evaluation. Recently
I have become aware of at least three co-ed yeshiva day schools (two
elementary, one high school) seeking principals. In the job descriptions,
these schools all seek "Orthodox Rabbis," and in their desire for a
"rabbinic figure" at the head of the school, refuse to consider hiring
qualified women who could serve as educational and religious role models.
To the best of my knowledge, there are very few co-ed elementary or high
schools run by women. If women do obtain positions of leadership in
coed-high schools, it is as directors of secular studies. As women begin
to acquire the knowledge and talent to serve both in a professional
capacity and as religious role models, it is disturbing that they are
being disqualified from leadership positions. Thankfully, serious strides
are being taken towards improving girl's education. At the same time,
women should not be considered only as principals for all-girls schools. I
am bothered that mainstream modern -orthodox day schools cling to the
notion of "ordination" as a qualification for principalship.=20
Lisa Schlaff
Graduate Student Rabbinic Literature NYU and Drisha</HTML>
