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| Image for illustration purposes only (Jerusalem Post) |
I have not changed my view on this. However, it cannot be denied that in schools where such a curriculum does not exist- adding any Limudei Chol curriculum worthy of the name will require near doubling of its budget. The question is, where will they get the money to hire qualified teachers? Their parent body surely cannot afford to double their tuition.
This of course does not mean throwing in the towel. What it means is trying to figure out a way to finance it. The fact that the vast majority of religious schools somehow manage to do that means that it is entirely possible.
The problem of getting good teachers in Limudei Chol and the ability to pay them a livable wage is not unique to these Chasidic schools. In fact as recently indicated by Aviva Lauer in the Times of Israel. even Limudiei Kodesh teachers are currently in very short supply. The reason for this is that the school budgets simply do not have enough income to get the good teachers they need. The idea of going into Chinuch (Jewish education) as a calling worth sacrificing a good income in other fields, seems to have gone the way of the dodo bird.
I say this without intending any criticism. Even the most idealistic person has the right to provide for his family. If going into Chinuch short changes that goal, they are going to look elsewhere for a job.
Lauer’s remedy is to simply pay teachers more. Raise the standard so that good people will be able to better support their families in choosing Chinuch as their career. Well that is an obvious solution. But it has an obvious problem. Where are the schools going to find the money to do that?
Most schools are already taxing their parent body to the max. The plain hard truth is that the tuition that most parents pay almost always incudes at least a partial scholarship based on their ability to pay. For most middle income parents with a typical size family of 3 or 4 children, full tuition can mean that the remainder of their income would be well below the poverty level.
Schools therefore needs to raise funds outside of their parent body in order to meet the budgets they now have. In many cases, they don’t even succeed – ending up with a budget deficit. So Lauer’s good intentions seem impossible to achieve. The money just isn’t there. And as a result these days, neither are the teachers. Not in Limdei Kodesh and not Limudei Chol.
So there you have it. A conundrum that seems to have no solution. How are we going to educate our children if we can’t afford to pay for it?
Some people (usually tuition paying parents that feel over-burdened by what they pay – even after being granted partial scholarships) have suggested that school budgets need to be transparent and heavily scrutinized in order to eliminate waste.
There is a common belief that school spend money on things they do not really need. Like having too may secretaries. Or programs they don’t need. Or on certain enrichment programs. Some might say that administrators salaries are too high. Or that there are too many administrators. Does the school really need a school phycologist?
What they don't seem to realize is that you are not going to have a good school without good administrators. The era of the lone principal is long gone. If parents want a school that will give their children the best education possible - all of the things that these schools now include are vital for that kind of outcome. The biggest expense by far is teachers salaries which have increased exponentially since I was in school in the late 50s and 60s. Salaries that are still not high enough to attract good teachers
Is there some waste in school expenditures? Perhaps. But even if there is, it is surely not enough that would make any difference even if it was all eliminated
So that even if schools become fully transparent with independent oversight committees - that will not produce anywhere near the additional funds needed to increase salaries enough to entice good people into becoming teachers.
This brings us back to square one. Paying teachers more is what is needed. But... ‘show me the money!’
Well here’s an idea. Recent surveys have shown a massive exit of secular or non observant Jews from their Judaism by way of intermarriage or simple apathy to their heritage as Jews. The one place where that seems to not be true is in the Jewish Federations. These organizations are run mostly by non observant Jews that actually do care enough about their Judaism to do something about this problem. In that spirit they support a variety of Jewish things designed to perpetuate the existence of Jewish people into the future.
Part of their budget therefore does go toward Jewish education. While that is laudatory at any level, not nearly enough of their budget goes there. Instead a huge proportion of it is allocated to Israel, Jewish cultural events and institutions.
I am not suggesting they reduce that portion of their budget that goes to Israel. However, the idea that supporting Jewish culture will keep Jews Jewish is at best a pipe dream that hasn’t really been working. Yiddish theater (for example) is not going to do it. The only thing that really works is a solid Jewish education that teaches its students what it really means to be a Jew.
If Jewish Federations really want to perpetuate Judaism they should devote most of their budget in support of the only thing proven to have worked. Religious education. Even if it means reducing support for Jewish culture. Judaism will survive without Yiddish theater. It will not survive without our people being educated about the essence of Judaism.
The leaders of these federations need to convince their donors that if they have any feeling at all about perpetuating their Jewish heritage into the future this is the only real way to do it.
There are many Jewish philanthropists that are multi millionaires. Some of whom are even billionaires. They are very generous in their philanthropy. If they want to perpetuate their heritage they must be convinced that the bulk of their philanthropic dollars goes to Jewish education. I think if they could be convinced to do that, this educational conundrum could be well on its way to being solved.