For the first time, the Education Ministry anchored the state-Haredi stream in an official document, setting in place procedures for opening new schools and defining the obligations of local authorities to provide services for residents interested in them. The case of Kiryat Ata, however, shows that implementation still depends on the goodwill of mayors or local council heads
If things had unfolded differently, two women would have been celebrating a victory today: the establishment of a state-Haredi preschool in their northern Israeli city of Kiryat Ata, next to Haifa.
The new preschool was almost entirely their doing. But fate, and a few other elements, wished otherwise. This included pressure by politicians, a mayor who has stopped responding to calls from the Education Ministry (and in recent days, to repeated calls from Haaretz), and parents worried that they will end up with no framework at all for their children. In the wake of all this, the coming school year will once again commence with no state-Haredi preschools in Kiryat Ata.
The failure of Bracha and Rachel (not their real names) is particularly hurtful after the hopes raised in recent months by a circular disseminated by the Education Ministry, designed to set in place a state-affiliated ultra-Orthodox school system, with Haredi schools that are fully funded by the state, teaching a complete curriculum of core subjects like math, science and English. The circular came out six months ago, at the end of previous Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton’s term. For the first time, it anchored the state-Haredi stream in an official document, setting in place procedures for opening new schools and defining the obligations of local authorities to provide services for residents interested in them.
The case of Kiryat Ata, however, shows that implementation still depends on the goodwill of mayors or local council heads, who are often subjected to heavy pressure not to cooperate with parents interested in pursuing this route. The frustration only grows following the interest generated by Bracha and Rachel’s initiative. “It seems that our success in recruiting parents interested in rapidly setting up such an institution deters and threatens some people,” says Bracha.
State-Haredi schools were first established a decade ago. They teach a full curriculum and are overseen by the state. Preschool and school teachers are employed directly by the Education Ministry.
Students in these schools constitute a tiny minority, comprising 4 percent of all ultra-Orthodox students. Most Haredi children study in the larger ultra-Orthodox systems, run by Haredi political parties, or in schools overseen by smaller non-profit organizations. And yet, in recent months it seemed that a window of opportunity was opening for setting up state-Haredi preschools, partly due to Agudat Yisrael (which is part of the United Torah Judaism party) creating a new set of regulations.
For years, a party-affiliated nonprofit organization has been operating private preschools for Haredi children in Kiryat Ata. In February, it announced that in contrast to the current situation, come September it would not be opening mixed-gender preschools for three-year-olds. It added that registration would now be dependent on parents’ adhering to a strictly modest dress codes. Furthermore, registration would no longer happen online but only in person, and only during the day, when young male students take a break from their yeshiva studies.
All these changes sent a signal to Haredi parents who belong to more open communities that they were no longer welcome in Agudat Yisrael preschools. “As a mother working full-time, I am not in the city during the limited hours set for registration,” says Bracha. Rachel says that Agudat Yisrael has complained about a lack of funds received by the municipality, which is why it decided to limit registration: “They said they don’t want to fund people who are not associated with them, namely a more diverse Haredi population not directly affiliated with the party.”
Parents of preschool-age children started worrying that they would not be accepted by Agudat Yisrael schools for the next school year. This, as well as a dearth of other frameworks suitable for Haredi children, led Bracha and Rachel to initiate the establishment of new, state-affiliated preschools. Within one day, 45 parents expressed their interest; a final list had 80 parents who were willing to put down their names and register.
The two women approached the municipality, equipped with the list of parents, and set up a meeting with Mayor Yaakov Peretz. “The mayor told us that he was interested, but was fearful of invoking the wrath of lawmaker Moshe Gafni [of United Torah Judaism],” says Rachel. “We told him that for us, a different kind of education was crucial, and that we wanted our children to learn core subjects at an adequate level, under supervision.”
At this point, the road to opening up such a preschool was supposed to be clear in light of the Education Ministry’s circular. But in Bracha and Rachel’s case, things got complicated. The mayor expressed his willingness to help and set up a meeting to be attended by an official from the Education Ministry charged with opening state-Haredi schools. Shortly before the meeting was supposed to be held, it was suddenly canceled. “At this point, I started to worry. It appeared that they were trying to brush us off,” says Rachel.
The office of Haim Biton, the minister at the Education Ministry responsible for Haredi schools, says that the municipality canceled the meeting. “We tried reaching them any way we could, but to no avail,” says Rachel.
Throughout February, along with postponing meetings, the nonprofit associated with Agudat Yisrael retracted its decision not to open mixed-gender kindergartens, and opened up registration without the modesty requirement. The limited registration hours were also withdrawn, and online registration was reinstated. The announcement said that this was a result of a meeting with Agudat Yisrael’s representative on the municipal council, Elkana Wisserstern. It was agreed at the meeting that the city would support preschools belonging to the party’s non-profit organization. Wisserstern did not respond to Haaretz queries.
Bracha is convinced that the city’s change of heart happened due to pressure by Haredi politicians, and that the registration requirements for Agudat Yisrael preschools were reverted to attract parents who had opted for the state-Haredi school system. Within days, the list of parents willing to register for the latter dwindled after most of them registered for Agudat Yisrael preschools.
“Many parents were afraid of being left empty-handed,” says Ayala (not her real name), who had expressed interest in registering her daughter for a state-affiliated preschool, but ended up with no choices. Agudat Yisrael informed her that her daughter would not be registered, claiming that the mother was insufficiently modest in her dress.
According to the association of friends of the state-Haredi system, which tries to assist these schools, Kiryat Ata is not an exception. Opposition and foot-dragging by mayors and local council heads is common in such cases. “This harms children by depriving them of a full education, with qualified teachers and public supervision. This also harms the country in the long-term, socially and economically,” the association said.
Meanwhile, Bracha and Rachel have no suitable place to send their children. Rachel registered her daughter in a national Zionist non-Haredi school, and is considering moving to another city where there are state-Haredi schools. Bracha hopes to find a place in a Chabad preschool and is now on a waiting list. “No one seems to feel responsible for providing us with a preschool,” she says. “It’s June already, and I don’t know where my daughter will be next school year.”