Israeli Government Ties Ultra-Orthodox School Funding to Core Curriculum Compliance
The Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara submitted a response to the Supreme Court last Friday regarding a petition by the Hadash movement challenging state funding for ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) educational institutions. The response revealed significant deficiencies in state oversight of core curriculum teaching in these schools, which receive billions of shekels in funding contingent on teaching core subjects.
Data from the Ministry of Education showed that in 2024, many Haredi schools had no qualified teachers for core subjects. For example, 35 institutions fully taught the core curriculum, but 225 out of 521 schools had no qualified English teachers, representing 43% of the network. For grades 7 and 8, 76% lacked qualified English teachers, 79% lacked qualified math teachers, and 87% lacked qualified science teachers.
The Attorney General's opinion stated that only 8% of schools met the required teacher qualification standards. It emphasized that the obligation to teach core subjects must include employing properly trained teachers, and schools without such staff cannot be considered compliant. Consequently, the government declared that continued funding under the "All Children of Israel" principle will require full adherence to core curriculum teaching, employing qualified teachers, participating in evaluation systems, cooperating with oversight, and fulfilling reporting duties starting this school year.
This response was part of a legal challenge against transferring nearly one billion shekels annually to independent Haredi education networks, which do not fully teach the core curriculum. The Supreme Court has already issued an interim order freezing these funds.
Opposition MK Vladimir Beliak criticized the system as corrupt and called for dismantling Haredi autonomy in education to strengthen state education. In contrast, Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni condemned the Attorney General's intervention, demanding equal imposition of religious studies on all Israeli children if core curriculum requirements are enforced on Haredi schools.
