The Knesset Finance Committee approved sweeping budget allocations totaling approximately 250 million shekels Tuesday for the haredi education system, addressing years of systematic funding disparities and wage gaps across multiple sectors of the community's schools.
The most significant component of the budget involves full wage equalization for kindergarten teachers in the haredi system. For the first time in Israeli history, all haredi kindergarten teachers will be funded at levels fully adjusted for seniority, eliminating a long-standing wage gap between haredi and mainstream education system teachers. The measure addresses what advocates described as "years of disparity" in compensation practices.
Finance Committee Chair and Degel HaTorah Chairman Moshe Gafni, who led the budget initiative, stated: "Even in these complex times, when the Torah world and education system face significant challenges, it is our obligation to care for Israeli children and the haredi education system. The budgets approved today are important news for kindergarten teachers, teachers, students, and educational institutions, and will help correct distortions and close gaps that have persisted for years."
Comprehensive Allocations
Beyond teacher compensation, the budget allocates substantial funding for student transportation in the Chinuch Atzmai network and the Bnei Yosef school system—a persistent financial and organizational challenge for parents and school administrators.
The committee also approved significant subsidies for after-school care programs in exempt status institutions and officially unrecognized schools, bringing afternoon supervision and enrichment program funding closer to levels available in mainstream Israeli schools.
Additional budget components address targeted support for at-risk youth within the haredi community and expanded funding for teacher training programs at haredi seminaries, intended to ensure quality instruction and support the next generation of educators.
Closing Systemic Gaps
The budget represents an effort to address what committee members characterized as systematic underfunding of the haredi education sector relative to mainstream schools. Gafni stated that the committee would continue to work "with determination on behalf of the Torah world and education, and will not relent until we ensure all rights and resources due the haredi education system."
