Attorney Yaakov Weintraub and David Glass will represent the
Forum of and Ownerships of Educational Institutions in filing
a High Court petition against the Education Ministry
following its decision to cut 15 percent of government
funding for chareidi and "recognized but unofficial"
kindergartens while government and government-religious
schools will remain fully funded.
In a preliminary letter Attorney Glass sent to the High Court
this week he said that in March he already contacted the
director-general of the Education Ministry regarding the
discrimination proclaimed against recognized kindergartens,
but received no reply. In the letter, Attorney Glass asks
Education Minister Limor Livnat to call an urgent meeting to
provide an opportunity to discuss the matter. "And I hope in
this meeting you will be persuaded to cancel the decrees
placed on the kindergartens," he concludes. The High Court
petition was filed after consulting with gedolei
Yisroel and coordinating with education and legal figures
who decided there is no alternative other than to petition
the court regarding the clear discrimination between one
child and the next.
The Forum has sent several letters in recent months to
Livnat, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon to demand the discriminatory decision
is rescinded, but has not received any reply.
Members of the Forum reiterate that if their request to
reverse the funding cut is not reversed, in the coming school
year official and chareidi kindergartens will be forced to
end studies at 11:30 am and kindergarten teachers and
classroom aides would have to take a pay cut.
