"This is a difficult but necessary step. On the one hand,
there are 400 empty classrooms in secular schools throughout
Jerusalem, due to the limited number of people who live in
those areas. On the other hand, other schools are
overcrowded. There is no choice but to combine smaller
schools into larger ones and to use vacant schools for other
institutional purposes."
These remarks were made by the director of the Education
Administration in the Jerusalem Municipality, Meir Kraus, at
the Knesset Education Committee which discussed the closing
of secular schools in Jerusalem.
Committee chairman Emanuel Zisman (Third Way) claimed that it
is inconceivable for secular schools in secular neighborhoods
to close and be replaced by other types of institutions,
generally chareidi schools. "Secular residents also have
rights in the city, and the closing of secular schools
constitutes a battle over the city's character. I call upon
the mayor and the Education Department to come to terms with
the representatives of the schools which are about to
consolidate or close, and to find reasonable solutions to the
problem within two weeks. If this doesn't occur, the
committee will launch a joint battle with the parents in an
effort to preserve these schools. It is unthinkable that
criteria such as the opening of registration regions will
apply to one sector of the population only: the religious
one. This is discrimination, lack of equality and shocking
deprivation," Zisman protested.
Naomi Chazan (Meretz) claimed that if a secular school in a
secular neighborhood is closed, the neighborhood will become
chareidi within a few years. "This has already occurred in a
number of neighborhoods," she added.
Rabbi Shmuel Halpert replied. "I don't understand why
everyone is so frightened over the fact that a vacant secular
school will become a chareidi one. Who is entering those
schools, the PLO or the Hamas, cholila? Natural
demographic migration is taking place. In the past, Chinuch
Atzmai schools were closed because there weren't enough
students. Rest assured that the Jerusalem Municipality will
not close down a school that has students."
Representatives of the parents claimed that when there isn't
a secular school in the neighborhood, parents leave, the
neighborhood empties, and chareidim move in. "We also have
rights, especially since we are the majority of the property
tax payers."
