Government approves $11.9 million for Haredi schools that don’t teach core curriculum subjects

The government yesterday approved the transfer of NIS 40 million ($11.9 million) in state funding to ultra-Orthodox schools affiliated with the Shas party’s Bnei Yosef educational network over the objections of the Attorney General’s Office, Kan reports.

According to the national broadcaster, Education Minister Yoav Kisch presented the cabinet with a proposal omitting any requirement for the schools to teach the core curriculum as a condition for the funds, contradicting government guidelines and a High Court ruling.

Shas’s schools are fully state-funded and are expected to teach the entire core curriculum. However, a study by the Israel Democracy Institute released last month found that only a small fraction of the ultra-Orthodox boys’ elementary schools that fail to teach core curriculum subjects as required by law face any sanctions.

In a statement to Kan, Kisch’s office states that the approval of the funds fully complied with both government guidelines and court rulings and that the position of the Attorney General’s Office had not been accepted by the government.

The cabinet also voted to implement an across-the-board cut of 0.6 percent to government ministries in order to fund security for schools for the upcoming academic year, giving in to the demands of Kisch and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.