A survey recently conducted by Market Watch among 200 Israeli school principals shows that parents are being charged more than the legal limit for their children's education. The findings of the survey were presented to the Knesset's Education Committee this week.
Even in the public school system parents pay more than they should according to Education Committee standards, the survey found. In addition, parents fund classes that make up part of the curriculum, instead of funding only extracurricular activities.
Almost 70 percent of Israeli schools charged parents more than the permitted amount, the survey found. The finding was an improvement over the situation three years ago, when roughly 80 percent of schools overcharged parents. However, the survey also found that some schools that overcharged in the past currently charge parents more than before.
The amount of money spent per student in public schools did not vary among those in the middle and upper classes, the survey found. However, the effect of required parental financial participation was felt among the poorest 20 percent of students, who received less funds on average than their counterparts in higher economic brackets.
While scholarships were available for students whose families could not afford the payments, the amount of funding available for scholarships has dropped dramatically, the survey found. The government provided between NIS 43 million and NIS 53 million for scholarships in previous years, but only NIS 29 million was available in the most recent school year.
According to Israeli law, all minor children are guaranteed a free education. However, the law allows schools to charge parents for “extras,” including cultural activities, class parties, schoolbooks, class trips, graduation ceremonies and hot meals. In some schools, parents are also asked to pay for extra class hours, enhanced Torah studies, and other courses viewed as non-essential by the Education Ministry.
Getting Israel in Line with the OECD
The committee also heard a presentation of the findings from a study conducted by Professor Ruth Klinov of Hebrew University. Professor Klinov compared parental participation in educational expenditures in Israel to those in countries belonging to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development).
In Israel, parents cover seven percent of the cost of their children's education on average, Professor Klinov found, compared to an average of five percent in OECD nations. When only parents of students learning in the public school system were considered, Israeli parents paid 4.5 percent of the cost of their children's education on average, compared to three percent in OECD countries.
Based on Klinov's study and the Market Watch survey, several recommendations were proposed in order to bring Israel in line with OECD nations in terms of school funding. Public funding for schools should be gradually increased while parental participation decreases, experts suggested.
The money given by parents directly to the schools should be used exclusively for extracurricular activities, they said, and the use of non-governmental funding for extra school hours and enhanced studies should stop.
In addition, parental participation in school expenses should vary based on the socio-economic standing of the area in which the family lives, experts said, in order to correct the current situation, in which the poorest students get fewer resources. Parents in low-income areas should be charged less than the standard amount, with public funds covering the difference, they said.
Experts also recommended that schools be required to issue expense reports and make their spending a matter of public record. Those that refuse to do so should be denied public funds, they said.