With all this ruckus about the school in Emannuel and discrimination against Sefardim, I have begun to wonder...
Perhaps there is discrimination involved, perhaps not. I don't know.
But why does the Supreme Court see fit to force them to have only one school? Every frum neighborhood I am familiar with, along with most non-religious neighborhoods as well, have well more than one school. In RBS there are tens of schools. Does that means every school is guilty of discrimination because there is not just one large school including everybody within it?
Let the residents of Emannuel open another school, even 10 more schools. Each schoool can differentiate itself slightly - this one for this group of hassidim, this one for that group, this one with more secular education, that one with less, the other one for these types of people, and yet another for those types of people, etc.
Why do they in Emannuel have to have only one school when every other neighborhood has multiple schools?
They can have as many schools as they want. However, they can't discriminate against sefardim by not accepting them to a specific school.
ReplyDeleteit isnt so clear that the current situation is discrimination, but it looks more so because they split the school and put a wall in the middle.
ReplyDeleteInstead they should make a new school, or afew, and not discriminate but target each noeo for a specific type of education, specifc level of religiosity or whatever, and as long as their is no discrimination it should work out.
Nobody is going to say Harvard has to accept everybody just because they apply, and if they dont it is automatically racism and discrimination. Here too, if a kid fits the criteria of the school he/she should be accepted. If not, he/she should apply to the school that is more suitable.
Most likely a money issue. This building apparently has enough classrooms, and there's no budget for another Beis Yaakov school.
ReplyDeleteYou're right that they don't have to accept a kid who doesn't fit their criteria. The problem is, is that their criteria for which kids they accept is that they aren't sefardi. There are criteria that are passul (even for Harvard), and this is what they're using to determine who gets in.
ReplyDeleteJenny - I dont want to argue whether there is or is not discrimination going on. It is in the courts now and they can determine that.
ReplyDeleteMy point is that they are sayign it is not discrimination, just sparating the schools based on level of religiousness.
To that I am saying, if that is true, stop doing everything in such a half-assed way that makes it look like discrimination because you are sticking other people behind a wall. Instead, create schools that meet all the needs.
And the excuse of funding is not a good excuse. They are claiming to stand up to the court because they will do whatever is necessary for the education of the children. Nobody will mix in and tell us how to educate our kids. All that jazz. So you are sayign they will do anything it takes to educate their kids the way they believe in, except pay some money to create a proper school? Eventually they will qualify for government funding anyway, I am sure. As most schools do. All schools pretty much do unless they are so far outside of the minimal requirements, which is almost never the case.
There was an excellent article in HaModia a couple of weeks ago. Seems the issue is actually not sephardi/ashkenazi. It's more about certain parents wanted a more "old fashioned" chinuch and made their own "chassidishe" school. This new school actually has quite a lot of sephardim in it.
ReplyDeleteEven a rep. from the Ed Ministry said that some of the parents he interviewed who were complaining were definitely "not on a high level" (my words not his).
It seems like this whole episode has become more of a muscle-flexing by the Bagatz more than anything else.