Note 3 — Chapter XXVII

Secular education of Montreal Jewish children is provided for in the public schools. There was no provision specially made for their education in the earlier education acts, but they were admitted into the schools of either the Protestant or the Catholic panels without question, so long as they remained few in number. When, however, the Jewish children began to form a very large percentage of those attending the public schools difficulties arose, owing to the claim being made that the taxes were not sufficient to cover the expense entailed. The problem gave rise to considerable agitation, but eventually the difficulty was overcome by an act passed through the Quebec Legislature in 1903 by which the rights of Jewish children to education in public schools on exactly the same footing as the children of Catholic and Protestant fellow-citizens were recognized, and for educational purposes the Jewish taxpayers were joined to the taxpayers of the Protestant panel, and all schools under this panel opened to them. These rights were secured largely through the work of the Jewish Educational Rights Movement Committee, which included a large number of the leading Jewish citizens of Montreal and which intrusted the legislative work to Mr. S.W. Jacobs, K. C, and Mr. Maxwell Goldstein, K. C.

Education in the Hebrew language and literature, as well as religious education, is attended to by special schools organized by the Jews of Montreal. The most important body for the study of these branches is the Talmud Torah Association, which supports a very large and important school.