The Education Ministry recently gave notice that Chinuch
Atzmai must henceforth follow the general Ministry principle
of children attending the closest institution to them —
totally overlooking its unique character, which has been
recognized by every Israeli administration in the past. As
such, 70 percent of the transportation budget will be cut for
the 5768 school year, dealing a blow to thousands of students
around the country who would no longer be eligible for
government funding of school buses. Since the Chinuch Atzmai
schools draw their students from a generally larger
surrounding area than the regular public schools, busing is
vital to their operation.
The new announcement came like a bolt of lightning out of a
clear, blue sky. For over two years Chinuch Atzmai has had to
cope with a severe budget crisis in the area of busing,
especially principals of Chinuch Atzmai schools and parents
of students in dozens of isolated locations, who view the
current degree as an extension of the unjustified,
intolerable scheming against the bussing program, which is
vital to the education of their sons and daughters in
accordance with the Torah legacy handed down to us.
In response to the new decree, Rabbi Avrohom Lazerson, one of
the heads of Chinuch Atzmai, said that Chinuch Atzmai cannot
accept this unfair decision since it strikes a major blow to
the basic infrastructure of the largest educational program
of Torah-true Judaism in our day and constitutes collective
punishment of thousands of mothers and fathers around the
country seeking to provide their children a pure, Torah-based
educational system.
Meanwhile, in response to a question posed by MK Rabbi Moshe
Gafni, Education Minister Yuli Tamir revealed that of a total
budget of NIS 110 million ($27 million) for school renovation
around the country only NIS 3.6 million ($890,000) was
earmarked for chareidi schools. She also noted that the
Ministry has allocated another NIS 20 million ($5 million) to
renew school buildings based on exacting reviews of specific
requests by local authorities.
In her reply, the Education Minister said that the projects
included in the renovation program are based on criteria such
as the school's age, size and socioeconomic profile. Schools
less than ten years old, with temporary or rented structures
or which received at least NIS 500,000 ($125,000) for
renovation work in the past five years, were not eligible.
MK Rabbi Gafni said that this distribution is in violation of
the law, which requires that Chinuch Atzmai and Maayan
HaChinuch HaTorani receive the same funding as government
schools.
Degel HaTorah has demanded NIS 6 million ($1.5 million) for
renovation of Chinuch Atzmai schools, but this demand has not
yet been met.
