Some Haredi schools are doing something right..

2 stories in the Haredi news indicate that some schools must be doing something right and perhaps change, albeit slowly, might be on the way for the rest of haredi society in general.

1. 3 Haredi ganim in Herzliya that were under the auspices of Chinuch Atzmai, have joined a pilot program with the Harzliya municipality in which the ganim will be funded by the city, more so than normal haredi ganim are funded so, and in exchange they will fly the flag, celebrate Yom Haatzmaut together with the other city ganim and stand silently for the siren on Memorial Day, Yom HaZikaron.

The decision to do this came when parents requested more funding from the city, and the mayor was willing but on condition that they accept the values of the State of Israel.

Surprisingly, the Haredi community said yes. Everywhere else in Israel, this has been fought and refused, but in Herzliya they said yes.

MK Moshe Gafni says that this is just a pilot and will not be expanded so quickly, and any expansion will be evaluated and decided upon by the gedolim.

2. A chain of ganim in Ramle that has been under Haredi auspices but has been directed at teaching a mixed student body of secular, Haredi, and traditional kids all together is losing its sponsor. It has been run until now under the auspices of Maayan Hachinuch HaTorani - the educational system of Shas, and their pulling out would mean the closure of these ganim.

The parents were so happy with the ganim that the parents all went out to protest against them being closed (NOTE: The article never says why they were being closed).

So, Shas is not the same as Degel, and Shas is always more open to the general public than Degel is, but still a mixed school, or gan, like this is still rare. And for the secular parents to go out to protest against the closure means they must be doing something right...