Israeli Education Ministry Cuts Funding for Special and Small Classes Nationwide

Less than a month before the new school year begins, Israel's Ministry of Education is implementing significant budget cuts affecting special education classes integrated within regular schools. These include communication classes for students with autism, classes for children with intellectual disabilities, mental health disorders, and specialized programs like MABAR and Etgar. Previously, communication classes were funded for 5 to 8 students, with full teaching hours allocated per student. Under the new directive, funding for each student beyond the sixth will be halved, reducing allocated teaching hours from 13.6 to 6.6 per student. This cut effectively eliminates a full teaching position per class, forcing schools to operate with fewer teachers.

The ministry's letter, sent recently during the summer break, compels school principals to urgently revise their schedules, leading to reduced individual treatments and private lessons for students. Education professionals warn that these cuts may discourage schools from opening new communication classes, which require substantial resources. Psychologists and school counselors, already overwhelmed, must prioritize special education classes at the expense of other students needing support. The cuts are also expected to widen educational disparities, as wealthier municipalities may supplement funding while weaker ones cannot, potentially causing regression among affected children.

Organizations representing children with disabilities, including ALUT, ILAN, and AKIM, have repeatedly sought responses from the ministry since June but report receiving none. Liel Peleg, head of education and welfare at ALUT, stated the ministry "quietly enacted drastic cuts that could harm tens of thousands of students with disabilities as soon as this year," impacting teaching hours, emotional therapies, and other critical services. Peleg warned that these measures risk halting the establishment of new special classes, severely undermining the integration of disabled students in community education settings.

Lior Bachar, principal of the Democratic School in Hadera, described the immediate effects: a significant reduction in teaching hours for special classes, including communication classes, leading to forced layoffs, his school lost one and a half teaching positions. He criticized the timing and lack of consultation, noting that the directive reduces both teaching hours per student and the ability to integrate special needs students throughout the school. Bachar called the cuts a moral and educational setback and highlighted the exclusion of school leaders from decision-making. He is still awaiting a response from the ministry regarding a requested "safety net" provision promised in the new guidelines but has received no reply after three weeks.