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In the past week and a half, 2 Lakewood schools have closed. Brooklyn schools are not set to open yet, so that remains to be seen. Out of curiosity, I talked to a few Rebbeim that I know and found out that by and large, it is not uncommon to be “behind” on their expected pay. In other words, many schools are in the same financial predicament but are clinging to hope. This does not bode well.
The “fiscal tsunami” is upon us. The dire predictions that we have been hearing for the last 30 years about the sustainability of Orthodox life (vis-a-vis our emphasis on Torah-only) are beginning to bear out.
Will our Gedolim give us direction on how to sustain our way of life, or will we just watch how it plays out, as if from the sidelines?
I am not drawing a line in the sand. I want to know whether our leadership considers this an issue worth addressing. Are the people who ‘make the Gedolim aware’ of other issues in our community doing the same with this situation?
i think gedolim have lectured again and again to support our mosdos hatorah but the people who listen often don’t have the means and the pple with the means often don’t listen…so I think more than the gedolim we need creative minds to brainstorm…
dveykus613: WELCOME ABOARD!!
This is exactly where the problems lies: Creative minds are not invited into the inner circle of the organization that prides itself as the voice of the gedolim.
squeak:
There is NO VALID REASON why the status quo must be sustained. The system was broken and as predicted the recession has forced a correction in the way the community thinks.
The reality is, there is no school or institution that is too big to fail. There is no inyan to have an able-bodied person with a decent mind sit and drink coffee all day. I’m in full agreement that married men should learn in kollel when they get married. But, by the beginning of Shana Revi’i close to 85% of them are burnt out and spending more time shmoozing about yenem than about Abaye and Ravah.
BMG of Lakewood needs support, fine. But, the Roshei Yeshiva must give their word that the only people who will get money from the public’s tzeddakah money are those who are ACTIVELY LEARNING and are not spending more than five minutes every 1.25 hours away from their seat.
There are many pressing community needs and tzedakkah issues that are more of a priority than paying for “Starbuck’s taste testers” as Rabbi Finkel in Chicago would call these burnt out kollel people.
There’s no question that Mosdos are struggling and so are parents. However, fundraising is no solution. People feel they pay enough tuition (which is indeed skyrocketing) and don’t want to contribute more. Cashing out on the same generous philanthropist, isn’t a long-term solution either. There is one answer. Government. We pay taxes like everyone else, school tax, we deserve better. If we would all decide tomorrow that we are enrolling into public school, far more money would be needed from their part. We have the schools, buildings and infrastructure ready, we just need that shot-in-the-arm. Let them give us half ($9,000!) of the amount they spend on each public school student and we’ll be fine with it. We need to get together B’Achdus and set guidelines for our candidates. We have a powerful block vote and it should be used. Frum Jews should make it clear, they would only support candidates who support private schools. No bribes and no earmarks will get them votes, money in our pockets will. It is high-time that something should be done and we should get our fair share.
There is one answer. Government
So when you start paying to educate Wahabbis & Missionaries, don’t complain.
There is a very good reason why there is a separation between church & state.
The answer is to merge schools (Consolidation), and take advantage of economies of scale.
There are other answers as well, but they are less “politically correct”.
Are Lakewood schools prepared to teach a full secular curriculum? AFAIK, in high school a lot of the boys schools have ZERO secular studies education. (Heard that from someone with only girls so I don’t know if that’s true)
I also wonder if people understand that government = people. If you take more money from the government, you are ultimately taking it from the people. Taxes will rise.
The answer is actually for people to start funding the education for their own kids. A homeschooling COOP could be a great idea, especially for boys. The fathers can do the teaching (which is still dealing with Torah) and the women can work. Rent and food is a lot less than rent+food+tuition.
Squeak, the root cause:
not enough money to pay bills at the school
squeak – “I want to know whether our leadership considers this an issue worth addressing. Are the people who ‘make the Gedolim aware’ of other issues in our community doing the same with this situation?”
I personally have no idea what is happening behind the Gedolim’s doors, and I would be surprised if anybody in the CR really did. Therefore, I’m not entirely sure what answer, if any, you’re looking for. You want to know what the Gedolim will do? How is anybody supposed to know that?
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artchill – “The reality is, there is no school or institution that is too big to fail. There is no inyan to have an able-bodied person with a decent mind sit and drink coffee all day. I’m in full agreement that married men should learn in kollel when they get married. But, by the beginning of Shana Revi’i close to 85% of them are burnt out and spending more time shmoozing about yenem than about Abaye and Ravah.”
First of all, where did you get this figure from? I wasn’t aware that there was an organization keeping track of exactly how much Torah is being learnt by every person in kollel, and would ttherefore be able to give you such a figure.
Secondly, the problems that squeak referred to were specifically about the sustainability of the school system. How much is or is not being learnt in kollels around the world is a different issue.
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Dave Hirsch – “There is one answer. Government. We pay taxes like everyone else, school tax, we deserve better. If we would all decide tomorrow that we are enrolling into public school, far more money would be needed from their part. We have the schools, buildings and infrastructure ready, we just need that shot-in-the-arm. Let them give us half ($9,000!) of the amount they spend on each public school student and we’ll be fine with it.”
Beside the issue that gavra_at_work pointed out, there is another problem. If the government could indeed be convinced to switch to a “school voucher” program (in which each child would get a “coupon” for $X toward tuition in the school of their choice, as opposed to simply being assigned to a nearby public school), you can bet that the government would make a ridiculous amount of rules and regulations that would need to be fulfilled in order to make a school eligible. And I’m not entirely convinced that these rules would be the type of rules that the average frum school can or should be following.
For example, let’s say one of the rules is that all schools in the program must spend at least half the day studying math, science, literature, or the arts. Let’s say a child has a 7 hour school day: 1:30 would be spent on meals (if the federal regulations didn’t make the meals longer), 2:45 on mandatory secular subjects, and 45 minutes for shachris (assuming the federal regulations allowed for prayer, which might not be the case as I believe the Supreme Court recently ruled that government-funded schools could not have prayer due to separation of church and state), leaving just 2 hours for any and all Jewish studies (including breaks). See where I’m going with this?
you can bet that the government would make a ridiculous amount of rules and regulations that would need to be fulfilled in order to make a school eligible
Don’t forget union teachers!
Squeak, the why is not as simple.
In Lakewood I think the issues are:
1) Not enough working parents
2) Too much reliance on grandparents
3) Large families without large incomes
4) Lack of understanding between needs and wants
I wonder if you asked people to get rid of their cleaning help before they got scholarships – would they do it?
Squeak said
“The “fiscal tsunami” is upon us. The dire predictions that we have been hearing for the last 30 years about the sustainability of Orthodox life (vis-a-vis our emphasis on Torah-only) are beginning to bear out”
Did you predict the poor economy?
Mosdos were relying are donations for years, and the donations are much lower since the economy went downhill.
Maybe?
SJS- its not just Lkwd that has problems
Blinky, I realize this. But Lakewood just shut down two schools.
Do you want me to detail the Teaneck problems?
Go ahead.
I actually know some schools in Brooklyn that are opening much later then other schools due to lack of funds.
Teaneck problems:
1) Stressing academic excellence without wanting to pay for it (smaller class sizes, multiple teachers plus assistants per classroom, gym, art etc)
2) Wanting classes mixed with special needs students and no tracking (making it harder to teach the entire class, neccesitating problems above)
3) Too much reliance on grandparents
4) High cost of living
5) Lack of understanding between needs and wants
6) Increasing family size from last generation without major increase in salary
7) The way scholarship committees approve scholarships
If I may please add my two cents.
Private schooling tuition in the non-Jewish world by far exceeds the tuition fees asked by heimishe schools. In fact, the costs allocated to a public-school attendee is considerably higher than our tuition costs (I think they allocate $18k per child). Our schools give us a considerable break in tuition as compared to their true expenses per child; even more so in Chassidic-oriented schools.
They schools have historically supplemented their shortage by going out there and asking for individual donations, parties, Melave Malka’s, etc.
Now, with the economy being in shambles, those private donations are reducing, in some cases significantly.
Squeak: “Thanks for the responses, but I’m not looking for suggestions from anyone here. What I would like to see is a letter from the Gedolim explaining what the primary cause of this crisis is so that we can go about fixing the root of the problem. Perhaps we can get the 70 to sign it and put an end to this cruel game?”
I hate to break it to you, but if you want to do that you’re going to have to do more than start a thread about it in the CR. There’s not much that any of us can do to help you on this one.
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