Readers’ Scoop: Handful Of Elementary Girls Still Out Of School

Readers Scoop smallIt’s 1:22pm, Friday, 7-Shevat, Jan, 22 and I’m watch how my neighbor’s 10 year old daughter is helping her unload groceries from her car for Shabbos. What a wonderful girl. She helps her mother everyday the past 4 months. What’s wrong with this statement? Let’s try another: My sister runs a playgroup for 3 year olds. She tells me how she has two helpers. Two sisters, wonderful girls. Ages 7 and 11. What’s wrong with the story? The answer is, THEY BELONG IN SCHOOL!!! They, together with a handful of other girls, are still not in a school, after attempting to switch schools from the previous year. Parents of these girls have been turned away from many Mosdos here in Lakewood. Each school claiming they don’t have room or the child won’t fit in.

The parents have been working with so many wonderful Askanim and Rabbonim whom tirelessly are working so hard to negotiate with the mainstream schools, to no avail. They have turned to Hakadosh Baruch Hu in prayer. Mothers cry bitter tears while Benching Hadlakos Neiros. As of date, there is no education slated for these Neshamos in the near future. At least not from Lakewood.

You ask “why does Moshiach not come yet?”. Read above…

Editor’s note: TLS spoke with a school principal who said that as of today, all students have been placed. We then contacted the letter writer who said that all the children have been placed, with the exception of one child, who remians out of school.

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76 COMMENTS

  6. I wonder why we aren’t told the reason they wanted to switch. or did they have to? some info missing. Not defending the schools, private ownership leads to self-serving decisions, but we need more info before the court of TLS can condemn the evildoers. gimme more please

  9. There are at least 3 mainstream schools that were willing to accept these girls. The parents are the ones that are being Oiver Lo Saamod Al Dam Rayecho.

  11. The state says they must go to school. Send them to one of Lakewood’s great PUBLIC SCHOOLS where they will receive a fine education. The PUBLIC SCHOOLS do not care which religion you belong to. When I went to them there were many Jews in my classes and we all got along just fine.

  12. The people who write these letters are the ones responsible for the lack of schools crisis . They twist the facts and make school owners look like terrible people . Therefore nobody wants to open up new schools because they are going to get called bad names .

  18. MOST OF THE CHILDREN WERE PLACED IN OTHER SCHOOLS WHO GRACIOUSLY TOOK THEM IN EVEN THOUGH THEY WERE MOSTLY OVERLOADED. SOME CLASSES NOW HAVE 30 KIDS IN A CLASS. AS OF LAST WEEK THERE WERE STILL 4 KIDS NOT YET IN SCHOOL. THESE ARE GOOD KIDS FROM VERY GOOD FAMILIES. UNFORTUNATELY, THE CLASSES ARE OVERLOADED AND IT TOOK ALOT OF TIME TILL THESE CHILDREN WERE PLACED. MOST OF THE SCHOOLS WENT OUT OF THIER WAY TO ACCOMMODATE THESE CHILDREN AND B’H AS OF FRIDAY ALL THE CHILDREN ARE PLACED.
    ALOT OF THANKS GOES TO THE PRINCIPALS AND ADMINISTRATORS WHO PAINSTAKINGLY WORK TO GIVE ALL OUR CHILDREN THE BEST POSSIBLE CHINUCH.

  19. Schools have no right to deny education. If I am a typical lakewooder and ready to pay their suggested tuition, and yes, provided the school has room, they have NO RIGHT to deny my child an education. ALL rabbeim and hanhala are great mechanchim. I am talking about the individual(s) who says “no seat for you”.

  20. You only have a RIGHT to go to a particular school if that school is FULLY FUNDED by the public . If the school owner has to struggle to make payroll every week and has to scnorr from his friends and relatives and parentss and grandparents ,then you have no right to tell him what to do . Especially when every school has full classes anyway When you open your school and fund it from your own money and take responsibility for schnorring for the payroll and upkeep and signing personally for the loans then you can decide who to take

  21. to anonymous 18.

    I take issue with one thing you said if “i am a typical lakewooder and am ready to pay the suggested tuition”. What about parents who cannot pay tuition. Parents who can’t even afford food and utilities payments. Parents who work but are not being paid a liveable wage?! Parents who don’t even know what it means to take a vacation, WHERE SHALL WE SEND OUR KIDS TO SCHOOL. iS PUBLIC SCHOOL THE ONLY ANSWER???? Some people CAN NOT AFFORD TUITION PERIOD. What is that old chazal about being careful with the children of the poor because from them come talmiedei chachamim? How the heck will they become talmedie chachamimn if they can’t afford tuition and can’t get into school??????

  23. Schools have no right to deny an education, yet they do have rights. They have a right to tell a parent that pulled a child out of a school for an illegitimate reason to go fly a kite.

  26. Dear 23
    I am crying for you. May Hakdosh Boruch Hu hear your Teffilos and put good sense into those whom are denying your childrens entry.

  28. Rabosai . Forget about this particular case fpr a moment . When are we going to figure out that without creating a kehilawide publicly funded system for creating schools ,we are very soon not going to have schools for our kids . Up until now we have relied on volunteers who have used thbeir own money to start new schools . There is really not enough place now but we somwehow manage by convincing the existing schools to squeeze more kids into their already overcrowded clases . Even that is going to end soon as the growth rate is so huge that even the overcrowded classes will not be enough . We are treating our kids like garbage . We dont want to get together and raise the money to maske the schools . It is a chutzpah to blame the existing school owners who have ac tually been moser nefesh to do something when in reality it is our fault . We are responsible for our kids and we the parents should be required to spend whatever bit takes to pay for making new schools .
    The days of assuming that another person will volunteer every year to open a new school are over . That worked when the growth rate wasnt so huge and when thdse volunteers were making a lot of money and wanted to use that money to give back to the klal . As we speak there are not enough schools for next year . I shudder to think what will be in 5 years when our school age population will almost double . Its going to get wild .

  29. to # 21 Of course people who cant asfford tuition shpuld be able to send their children to school . But that obligation falls on the tzibur to provide the funding , It does not fall on the poor school administrator who cant make ends meet and cant afford to pay his teachers . Why does this become his chiyuv ? Its like saying that every grocery store should give free food to needy families . That is why we have Tomchei Shabbos for . The same trhing should be done for schooling . We need a community wide fund for tuition relief . It can not be the burden of the schools or the schools will close down from the financial strain

  30. glatekup,
    The Vaad does know this child and we are working very hard with the parents and local askanim to get her into a school fit for her. It’s not one size fits all. It is not easy. Some schools are full and some dont listen. She is a great kid from a great family. The school she was in is not for her anymore.

  32. Boruch Hashem there are enough schools. However there are too many people that feel “Es Past Mir Nisht” to send to this one or that one, and are only willing to send to a school that is good for their ego.

  33. To anon 28 You are 100% right . But we have become so used to getting everything handed to us on a silver platter that we arent going to do anything about it until there is a huge crisis . In a few years when there will be a few hundred kids without schools then maybe we will wake up and make a unified community fund to make schools . It is going to take a lot of pain before we wake up to the reality of the situation

  37. To # 32 You are mistaken There are not enough schools . It is this misconception that is preventing people from doing something about this crisis . Everyone believes that we have no problem .There are more than 3 times the amount of children going into primary as there are graduating elementary school this year .That is staggering growth . Based on the growth we will need to triple the amount of schools in the next 5 to 10 years . It is so expensive to start a school that no realistic person believes we will find enough people to do that without a public funding solution .

  39. Just to put things into perspective . The askanim say that there are about 1300 girlls in playgroups waiting to enter primary next year . Assuming the same is true for the boys that means 2600 entering primary next year . even if we assumed a 0 % future growth and this number remaing steady ( which we know it is not ) ,that means 2600 X 12 =31,200 kids in our schools over the next 12 years . to put it into perspective the public school system has less than 5000 kids . About 15 years ago our Mosdos had about 5,000 kids .
    If you believe that 31,000 kids can be educated by relying on volunteers to volunteer their time and money to make schools then I have a nice bridge to sell you in Brooklyn .

  40. I wonder why MI’s secretary not received a call yet? If there is any truth to this story, then the parents should have already reached out to receive his help.

  43. The answer must come from our Gedolim. Where is your amunas chachamim. I am sure as soon as they hear about it will be taken care of.
    PS Learning Torah and Davening with more Kavanna will surely help.The tears never go unanswered.

  44. Why is everybody so worried about these 2 kids and not worried about the many hundreds of kids that are not going to have schools in the next year or 2 ?

  48. Running a school is so so expensive and you must be crazy to do it, that is why noone wants to open a school, it costs between 7 and ten grand per child to run a school, you do the Math

  51. I have 3 girls that are not in school since the summer of last year. The askonim have been trying to get them in schools but no principle would even look or hear about them
    We are in a lot of pain, the school year is half over, 3 children are waiting to get to any school.
    I am not involved in any of the school politics and not interested in any, I have given up to get them in mainstream school to avoid us of having to fight to get them to high school
    We just want our kids in a school.

  52. I think we should close down every restaurant and eatery in town and not allow any more shuls to be built until we knock some sense into the oilam that we need to raise millions of dollars to make schools for our kids .

  54. # 29 you mention Tomchei Shabbos is here to take care of the problem of families that can’t afford food. Let me enlighten you and the olam. I’m on it, and it doesn’t even come close to supplying what my family needs. It is run by TZADIKKIM AND IS terribly UNDERFUNDED. Make no mistake, a family of 12 cannot make due with 4 loaves of gefilte fish a month. (3 sudas shabbos x 12 people = 36 slices per loaf). This is NOT a complaint on Tomchei Shabbos, They are wonderful people that work soo hard for the tzibbur. If they don’t have enough $ to buy food for the needy where is the food supposed to come from?????? . I agree with the suggestion of closing all the resturaunts in town until more $ is found for the basic neccities of living. While we are on the subject, how about putting some poor people on all the school boards, tzedaka committies, etc so the voice of the downtrodden can be heard instead of just the big shot relators, builders and politicians who DON’T HAVE A CLUE WHAT IT MEANS TO BE DIRT POOR in a town like lakewood. Purim is coming soon, what happened to the idea of REFUSING to give $ to bachurim that come in limosines? There is soo much to fix here.

  55. Why cant the school they children want to go just take them in . I never heard of such a thing and i hope i never again . School years make the kid who they are and if i was the owner of that school ill be scared if wat happens to the kid .I think you don’t want to be accountable for this in shamayim. I hope this goes far.

  56. You are all fools!

    How dare you say there aren’t enough schools here! There is one very fine girl’s school that has room, and accepts most everyone that needs a place. But to be so high and mighty as to say that there is not enough schools just blows my mind! Get off your high horses and give your daughters an education! What are afraid of in that school? All the teachers are frum, loving moros that give each of their students individual attention! What more could you ask for? Just look up Bais Yaakov Elementary School!!

  57. Gee, a few years ago the township of Lakewood offered you people a large piece of land to build all your schools on and you turned it down. Why? All the money spent on these individual schools could have been spent on building 4 schools on that land – one each grammar school for boys and girls and likewise for high schools. And, if you had done it, I think you would have saved all the tax payers some money by not busing the kids all over the town.

  58. We all realize that Tomchei Shabbos can only do so much . The point of the post was that it is not the schools job to give free tuition just like its not the grocery store job to give free food . We need to create an organization funded by the tzibur tp help people with tuition .

  59. sorry . The twp didnt offer anything for free . There was an auction and schools purchased property and some are already built while others are waiting for the sewer line to come before they can build . Believe me nobody turned anything down

  62. There are TWO reasons that someone has kids not in school,either they hold ES Pasht Nisht to send to certain schools or they themselves have a real serious Hashkofa issue in their home
    There is NO other reason PERIOD

  66. Schools should be closed. Why didn’t we hear about this earlier? Why was there a dinner last night? Why couldn’t they give the money to schools to open another class? Are schools so full that they can’t squeeze in another? Not even one? What if it was your child? How old are they kids? Which grades? Why was everyone sleeping until now? Is snow removal more important? Is bashing hatzolah more important? Is toieva more important? Is the dibbuk more important? Why does this neshama need to suffer? Can rabbi batzri help? Could reb chaim kanievsky give a brocho via skype? Is video dating more important? There is 9 weeks left to pesach. Does this girls belong in school or at home cleaning for pesach?
    Can anyone answer a single question? This is terrible for our community. Where’s the mashgiach? Doesn’t he have influence? Do we care about what Avi Slolomon and Hershkowitz are kvetching about? Is it more important?Am I making sense? Am I?

  67. Bnos Shprintza and Bnos Yente are really good schools but I didn’t send my daughter there because I duidnt like the names. So now I need a school.

  69. some comments on the comments:
    “Everyone has a right to go where they WANT not where they’re TOLD”
    why dont you speak to the people who run Harvard and Yale and see if they agree?

    “3 sudas shabbos x 12 people = 36 slices per loaf”
    do you really expect TS to provide all that? how about eating fish at only two meals. or one. feinshmekker! TS’s job is to keep people from going hungry…

    “I think we should close down every restaurant and eatery in town”
    nice going. so we can add all these business owners and their employees to the Tomchei Shabbos list for 3 rolls of gefilta fish .
    while we are at it, how about closing down all leasing companies so no one can buy new cars. and fashion stop and other expensive clothing stores. etc.

    “Why couldn’t they give the money to schools to open another class?”
    probably cuz they were raising money to keep the existing classes open…

    “Do we care about what Avi Slolomon and Hershkowitz are kvetching about? ”
    of course we do! if we get rid of illegals who push drugs, our kids who are not in school will not be exposed to these dangerous elements.

    “Am I making sense? Am I?”
    no.

    to the person who is not a liar:
    can you please refer to comment # 12, school maven and tell us all which of the two you are?

    to the people who think we should call the gedolim on this:
    Hello? its January. Dont you think somebody already thought of that idea? obviously there is more to this than meets the eye. If the Non-liar would care to explain her situation, I think it would clear things up for us instead of people gettting all heated up about this what with hearing only one detail instead of the full story…

  70. I agree that we should also close down all the leasing companies and luxury clothing stores . Bottom line we need to shock the oilam out of their complacency and make them realize that this situation can not go on for much longer . We ca not educate 30,000 kids based on volunteers . We need to get the message that we need to take responsibility for our children . The goyim understand it and they tax themselves . Why dont we understand it ?

  71. The comment about closing down the eateries was not meant to close them down permanently . It was to send a message that we cant go on living luxoriously while we dont provide for our childrens education . Belive me if we closed down every store that wasnt a bare necessity ,the oilam would get the message pretty quickly and do something

  72. I think we should all apply to the Public School, it will be a lot cheaper for the community to get together and pay the Public School kids to go to private school. And then we will have a public school system that can be catered to our special needs. The non Jewish kids will greatly benefit from the private schooling. And we will greatly benefit from public schooling a win win.

  73. I believe that the people who are not in school are not of elementary age. Yes, there are a few high school girls that are not in school. Unfortunately the lakewood high schools arenot equipped to work with these schools and some of the parents don’t want to go out of town. Some are still trying to push their daughters into the lakewood high schools.it is unfortunate, but there are askonim working with these families. It is heartbreaking.

  74. R’ Shmuel Kaminetsky heard nothing about this. If the parents are reading this or if anyone knows the parents, pls have them call him at Yeshiva

  75. If R’ Yanky Mandelbaum is not getting them into school, there sure is a good reason!!…. Let’s all face, he has evrything that has to do with schools under control!!

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