This paper describes the curriculum that immigrant children encountered when they entered the New York City public schools at the beginning of the twentieth century. Focusing on the interaction between the curriculum and one group, East European Jews, the paper examines: (1) what the schools were attempting to teach Jewish and other immigrant students; and (2) if and how the Jewish community in New York sought to influence the nature and content of the public education that the children were receiving. It is suggested that New York City's German Jewish leadership and the leaders of public education shared the common concern of promoting the full assimilation and integration of East European Jews into American society. The paper describes how, toward this end, both elite groups collaborated on instructional programs designed to meet their transformational goals, and implemented the programs without ascertaining the wishes or seeking the consent of the East European Jewish community. (MJL)