High Court to hear petitions on cutting funding for Haredi schools not teaching requisite hours of core studies

The High Court of Justice is set to hear petitions this morning against the funding of ultra-Orthodox schools that do not teach the required number of hours of core curriculum subjects, such as math, English, and science.

The petition was filed by the Hiddush Religious Freedom and Equality organization in March last year, demanding that the budget for two large ultra-Orthodox school networks, which are fully state funded and supposed to teach a specified number of hours of core curriculum studies, be adjusted in line with the actual number of hours that are taught of such subjects.

A State Comptroller’s Report from 2020, as well as position papers by the Attorney General’s Office and the legal adviser to the Finance Ministry in 2024, found that the Independent school network associated with the United Torah Judaism party and the Bnei Yosef – Maayan Torah Education network associated with the Shas party were not fulfilling the required teaching hours for core curriculum studies as stipulated for fully funded schools.

Hiddush’s petition requests that the court order the Education Ministry to adjust the budget allocated to these educational networks based on the number of hours that each of its schools teaches of core curriculum studies; that reporting of taught hours be done in a trustworthy and legal manner; and that the schools fulfill their legal requirement to participate in external testing.

The petition will be heard by judges Daphne Barak Erez, David Mintz, and Ruth Ronen.