Analysis Reveals Systematic Budget Disparities Favoring Religious State Education Over Secular Schools in Israel

Each year, the Israeli Ministry of Education publishes a comprehensive budget document known as the "Green Booklet," detailing funding allocations to local authorities for secondary education. Despite its complex mathematical formulas and tables, the booklet reveals a significant and systematic budget disparity between the state religious education system (Haredi and religious state schools, known as "Haredi-Mamlachti-Dati" or Haredi-Mam) and the secular state education system (Mamlachti-Ivri). Researchers from the Menor Center, which advocates for strengthening public education in Israel, analyzed this document and found that students in the religious state system receive on average 10,000 shekels more per year than their secular counterparts, with the gap increasing from 18% to 26% over the past decade.

The Ministry of Education acknowledges this gap but attributes it primarily to unique curricular requirements in religious schools, such as additional Jewish studies hours and funding for rabbis. However, the Menor Center's researchers, Orit Pais-Avidan and Ofir Gilboa, discovered that these specific additions explain only 23% to 40% of the budget difference. The remaining disparity stems from two main factors: the "Oz Letmura" reform, which increased teacher salaries to cover non-classroom work and disproportionately benefits religious schools due to their additional study hours, and the "Mochzikut" funding, which provides extra budgets to smaller schools often located in peripheral areas. Religious schools tend to be much smaller, with 70% having fewer than 300 students, compared to 80% of secular schools having between 300 and 1,200 students. The Ministry's formulas grant extra funding to these smaller institutions, further widening the budget gap.

The Menor Center is petitioning the Israeli Supreme Court against this unequal funding and is working on new budget formulas to increase allocations for secular state schools. They advocate for recognizing the unique identity needs of secular education by funding additional support in humanities subjects such as philosophy, culture, Hebrew literature, Zionism, and Jewish thought, as well as establishing study centers and strengthening the role of educators. The goal is to ensure secular students graduate with a strong cultural and emotional identity, similar to their religious peers.

The article concludes with a reflection on the broader issue of educational segregation in Israel, suggesting that integrated schooling could reduce societal divisions. While acknowledging this as a personal wish unlikely to gain wide support, the author emphasizes the urgent need to address and rectify the current funding inequalities within the separated education streams to ensure fairness and equity for all students.