Community Magazine January 2016

“The topic of tuition is perhaps the most serious of all issues confronting our community and families. It is taking a toll on shalom bayit and increasing the amount of stress families have on a day to day basis,” asserts Michael Jemal, of the Sassoon Children’s Fund. Jemal says he has spoken with many individuals, through formal meetings and casual talks, to hear their ideas about how to deal with the problem. “There are no bad initiatives,” Mr. Jemal states. “At the very least, raising awareness by itself is an accomplishment. I don’t know that there is any one solution that will resolve this issue.” Those with only a passing knowledge of the overall struggle might already be aware of the funding ideas that often are suggested: government subsidy or tax breaks, life insurance policies, wills/bequests, donations, alumni solicitations, philanthropic donations, and fundraisers. Jemal also noted that another idea is to have all community members donate small sums on an ongoing basis, and to pool the resources. Yet another solution to the tuition crisis is to allow families to defer the payment of tuition for decades, mortgage-style. So rather than parents paying discounted tuition over the course of twelve years, they would do so over the course of twenty or thirty, so as to completely pay off the full tuition over time. “This by itself is not a solution, but may ease some of the stress and tension associated with meeting the day to day obligations and spreading the costs over a longer period of time,” Jemal states. The government funding system, whereby the government provides funding directly to parochial schools, has had much success across the US, in parts of Canada, and in other countries. The question remains how to encourage political representatives to present proposals for funding community schools, and in what way. One parent in the community says that marketing the idea of the government providing funding for our schools should be our primary concern. “The issue shouldn’t be labeled as ‘school funding,’ or ‘religious school funding,’ but rather ‘fair funding.’ We want fairness and I think that resonates deeply with everyone,” the community member stated. So if every child is legally entitled to receive the government’s support for the three Rs’ – reading, writing and arithmetic – “that should apply across the board, to every student, and not exclude the ones learning in the ‘wrong building’,” the community member added. It’s easy to find allies with other religious institutions and private schools – including non-Jewish ones - who share common goals. “Our social mores frown upon religious discrimination, yet one can’t help but see that religious schools are the ones being excluded from government assistance,” the community member concluded. Around theWorld The UN’s International Human Rights Committee, a non-partisan judiciary,hasruledthatrefusaltofundachild’seducationisdiscriminatory. Other countries around the world have employed the idea of fairness for all. In Belgium, for instance, the government pays for any school the parents want to send their child to – and this has been a real success. The Fraser Institute, a non-governmental, non-partisan research group reported, “Equal funding for both public and private schools has improved educational opportunity and performance in Sweden.” The Local Challenge Our challenge is about finding ways to pay for, and offset, costs. Those parents already paying tuition are being asked to squeeze more, and philanthropists complain that they’re always the ones shouldering the biggest, and most frequent burden. Once parents see their children through day school, then they are paying for college, followed by weddings. After that they are being HIGHCOSTS Community leaders all agree on one thing: the money’s out there, but people aren’t giving. That’s the implied consensus amongst several key individuals working to avert what many are calling the 'tuition crisis'. DAVE GORDON Combating the of TUITION 22 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE