UPDATE: Wherever you go these days, there's one unavoidable discussion which keeps coming up-High Schools. With only days left until the beginning of the new school year, many parents are still frantically trying everything possible to get their daughters in. And it's not just parents-many teenagers feel-and some were-rejected. TLS again spoke with Askonim directly involved with the ongoing school crisis and one thing is clear. While a specific number of girls without a school, was not given-"A tremendous amount of progress has been made'' and there is no word of school's opening day being postponed at this time. We will continue to monitor the situation and bring you any further developments.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Update: Progress Made With High Schools
UPDATE: Wherever you go these days, there's one unavoidable discussion which keeps coming up-High Schools. With only days left until the beginning of the new school year, many parents are still frantically trying everything possible to get their daughters in. And it's not just parents-many teenagers feel-and some were-rejected. TLS again spoke with Askonim directly involved with the ongoing school crisis and one thing is clear. While a specific number of girls without a school, was not given-"A tremendous amount of progress has been made'' and there is no word of school's opening day being postponed at this time. We will continue to monitor the situation and bring you any further developments.
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61 comments:
I have nothing to say anymore.
Not looking to pass judgment on any mosad, but the callous treatment of good people and innocent children is inexcusable. Will we really have the chutzpah to shukkel and klap al chet on our elitist hearts with a shred of sincerity? Maybe the pressures of competition drive them to it, but the retzichah cries out for a macha'ah. If you can't accept every child, and in a respectful manner, shut it all down. Yutzuh schoroh b'hefseidah
By the fact that this problem no longer exists with Local Boys Mesivtas , it has been proven that this is an issue of supply and demand . If we would require that 1 high school be started for EVERY FIVE new mesivtas ,then we would be in good shape .
Stop blaming the Mosdos. It is purely a numbers game. Now how to solve that, needs to be addressed, but people should not feel "Rejected". I got rejected from all the schools I applied to but I knew I had to keep fighting until I got in somewhere. Also the same people who feel "Rejected" because who is the owner to decide that they are not frum enough ,are the same people who do not want to go to certain schools because they are not frum enough for them.
And lastly people have to be realistic. If you only try for the "top" schools and then don't get in bc of the mathematics and then the only schools left are the ones you don't want to send to, don't blame the system. You could have gotten into a decent school if you would have applied there first.
A famous doctor told my wife, i am delivering 1 new class of yiddisha kinder a week, B"H. What's going to be in a few years when the kids start going to school? they need to open new schools NOW.
With what I hear of the growth in Lakewood ,every parent with a fourth grade girl probably knows that by the time their daughter gets to high school in a few years ,there will probably be a shortage of space for hundreds of girls . Yet not too many parents will do anything about it till they scratch their heads in 8th grade wondering why they dont have a school .
ACHH YOU ARE SUGGESTING A GIRLS MOSADD AS A SHTELLER
CMON I DIDNT SIT AROUND IN TO TECH GIRLS
I CAN DO AFTER NITE SEDER NOSA VNOTAIN BACKUP MASHGIACH IN A MESIVTA
OH YOU WANT ME TO HAVE AHAVAS YISROEL I SEE
I SEE THATS A GOOD THING TO WORK ON
I heard of a big number of parents who gambled with their kids by not applying to certain good schools in the hope that they would then get taken by their "top school ". Now they are crying because they lost the bet and they only wish they could go to the other schools ,which now also are full .
This does not happen in Satmar because the Kehilla plans several years in advance to create the school space . If you choose to live in Lakewood where you know there is no Kehilla planning for your kids ,you better get together with your friends and other parents and start planning to open new schools . If you dont do it TODAY you can only blame yourself TOMORROW when your kid is the one with the chair .
I realize you ( and many others ) look at girls Mosdos as something unbecoming for a Talmid Chochom to establish . That is why we have 20 Boys High schools for every girls school .
In Musical chairs ,there is always one chair missing . In lakewoods game of musical chairs there are dozens of chairs missing .Obviously some poor kids are going to be left standing up every year until the parents decide to go out and buy more chairs ( start more schools )
Kehilla shmehilla!
In Satmar if you dont toe their line and dress as everyone else you cant go there either.
Maybe Lakewood should create Kehila schools and if you are "admitted" to "The Kehilla" then you automatically are welcome in all "The Kehilla" mosdos.
In addition,tuition at Kehilla Mosdos such as Satmar are always a fraction of other schools since there is no profit and they subsidize for needy families in their kehilla (that wil never happen here)>
There absolutely should be KEHILLA schools in Lakewood . The problem is ,that there will never be a Kehilla established here t
It is very easy for everyone to say "open new schools", however when the current schools are barely making it financially, and people are way behind in their tuitions, and there is no one who can fund it how do you do it?????
There is an elementry school in town that is most likely not opening next week due to financial issues. There are close to 150 elementry girls that will be schooless.
They subsidize by taxing meat and chickens and by training their gevirim that CHAITY BEGINS AT HOME . If every Lakewood gevir would give all his masser money only to a fund for local education instead of all the other out of town mosdos ,then we would have had enough money to pay people to start new schools and subsidize their upkeep
When people say OPEN NEW SCHOOLS ,they are not taking to individual parents . They mean the Commun ity as ahould band together to open the schools . The community could find the money if everybody cared and gave their Txedakah monies to fund the schools .
I am not ch"v putting down the mitzvah of Lakewood for Yavneh or Shuvu or Nesivos Moshe or Lev Lachim or Chesed Lavrohom . things like that Each one of those Mosdos is extremely worthy and likely needs lots of money and gets lots of it from Lakewood ,but when will we hear people collecting for 'Lakewood for Lakewood " ?
I know of girls that were accepted into great schools however the parents rejected the acceptance and are now waiting to get into one specific school. The parents want only one school and nothing else. So I am not so sure that the Mosdos are the only ones at fault.
wow..same comments year after year.
What tzar for the parents and girls..
I myself was affected and know of others as well.
The Mashgiach paskened that all the high schools are good for any Bas yisroel from Lakewood . There is no excuse for rejecting an acceptasnce from any school .
The same comments will be here every year until more schools are opened .By blogging about your Tzar ,the school shortage is not getting fixed
The same comments will be here every year until more schools are opened .By blogging about your Tzar ,the school shortage is not getting fixed
The community has opened new schools, has increased classroom size, yet cannot keep up with the growth.
Opening up new schools means opening up enough to keep up with the growth
You have to be a Certified Meshuganah to open a girls school in Lakewood . In your first yeaer ,nobody waNTS TO ENROLL AND YOU HAVE TO BEG AND PLEAD WITH ANY PARENT TO EVEN TAKE YOUR PHONE CALL. In your third year ,you have so many applicants that you have to turn away more than half for lack of space . These turned away parents ,then turn around and call you and your family every nasty name in the book ,with "Rosho " being the kindest name .
No wonder nobody wants to open new schools .
Those that say "When people say OPEN NEW SCHOOLS ,they are not taking to individual parents . They mean the Community as ahould band together to open the schools." - Hey are you part of the community (yes) - What have you done other than blogging about the problem (nothing) - Have you called a meeting to see if you can get a new school off the ground (no) - Have you found a financial backer (no) - Have you spoken to any Rav in town to see what the criteria and educational aspect of such a school should be (no) - So how do you get the community to band together?????
know of girls that were accepted into great schools however the parents rejected the acceptance and are now waiting to get into one specific school. The parents want only one school and nothing else. So I am not so sure that the Mosdos are the only ones at fault.
___________________________________Is that school charging lower tuition than everybody else ?
To IHR HAKODESH
Please change all your yes to No and No to yes .
I am not part of your community of Lakewood .
In my little town I have helped call meetings ,and have found financial backers and have spoken to Rabbonim and have hepled the Local school get off the ground .
Now maybe you do the same where you live .
Being from out of town I cant claim to understand the Lakewood politics and mindset . Yet I fail to understand how the very people who contribute to your community by building schools ,are always the ones being rudely denigrated and put down and blamed for your growth crisis . Why is everybody passing the buck and making them the scapegoats ?
Your headline is misleading . I have friends in Lakewood who have 8th grade boys going into high school . Thery told me that their phone used to ring non stop with requests from schools to please give them a chance . Some of these kids were very mediocre in both learning and other hanhogas . So there is no High school crisis for boys as far as I know .
to Brookly Zeidie
To the best of my knowledge most of the Lakewood High Schools tuition charges are pretty similar . I dont believe there is one that charges significantly less than the others ,although I dont know that for a fact . I just assume so .
TO TLS EDITOR
In fairness to these poor girls , I would change the wording on the picture from REJECTED to NOT ACCEPTED . I think that in most of these cases ,it is not the girl as a person who was rejected ,rather an issue of not working out the space for some school to accept her . Im sure there are some exceptions to this ,but on the whole , "NOT ACCEPTED " would be more appropriate .
How many ASKONIM are working on this issue ? Maybe when this is resolved ,we can pull some of them off temporarily and ask them to organize new schools so they wont have to go through this every year .
Boys can always go out of town without being a red flag.
Attention 3:13 pm: "I know of girls that were accepted into great schools however the parents rejected the acceptance and are now waiting to get into one specific school"
This is very true. The Mosdos are at fault because they are actually holding spaces for girls who would rather go elsewhere, and are still banging on the doors of the "in" school. The reason they are still banging is because in past years, the "in" school has accepted several girls the night before school opened.
Everyone involved knew the number of girls graduating and knew the number of seats available. The vaad said that every girl will be placed. They did not say WHEN. Hey, they have four days left.
They can go out of town . True .
But the fact is that they have literally dozens of options in town ,enough for every boy from Lakewood and probably Boro Park also . Girls do not have the same options in town and that is the problem . Build a parralel girls school for every boys schools and the problems will be a distant dream.
Why are Mosdos holding spaces for people that dont want to go there ? Let them give those precious spaces to the people that do want them .
TO 4:37 PM: They Mosdos are holding spaces for girls who want to be elsewhere, because that is part of the game of elitism. Everyone wants to be part of the club which doesn't want them. Every school wants the girls who think they are too good for them. Get it?
Im pretty amazed . If as you say there are some schools more in demand ,then they could probably command a higher tuition . If they are truly not ,it is pretty amazing .
Do I get it ? Not really . But I guess since I am from out of Lakewood I am not smart enough to get why 4 days before school starts , people would be holding seats for somebody who has stated their wish not to come .
Thank the RS I don't live in Lakewood
Dear Brooklyn Zeidie,
With all due respect, please stop getting hung up on tuition. There are many large families in Lakewood living on very small incomes, and tuition has to remain low. If the schools would stop antagonizing people and have better PR, they might have more donors and be able to stay solvent. Then we could talk to them about adding classes for the growing Lakewood girls' population KAH.
If there weent so many Askanim running around helping these parents ,then they would have to take care of themselves and go to the schools that want them . But they always think the Askanim will help them at the end so they hold out .
Our patience is wearing thin. While these "mosdos" are surely enjoying the limelight, it is at the expense of heilige yiddishe neshomos. Get your act together!!! And don't be surprised when the wheel turns and you are the "reject".
how about elemtary schools, are all children placed?
Reading this I cant imagine why anybody would want to have school in Lakewood . You got to be nuts to get involved. It sounds like there is no chance of staying sane or staying respected .
I CANT WAIT TO SEE THE TOY TRADERS ADD THIS WEEK.I WONDER IF IT WIILL MAKE FUN OF THIS WHOLE SIUATION.
Since it sounds like without exception ,everybody who makes or runs a school is nasty and antagonizing , I want to know the following :
Is it that only nasty people decide to make schools or is it that once you make a school you then become nasty ? Which comes first .
I am thinking of making a school but I dont think I am nasty . Does that mean I am not nasty and not cut out for it or does it mean that once I make the school I will become nasty and antagonizing .
Dearest 5:28 pm: Many have come before you, trying to help the tzibbur, wanting to do good. However, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Kol mi she'oskim b'tzorche tzibbur B'EMUNAH will be rewarded. If you are sincere, do not make yourself a dictator. Listen to Daas Torah, and take girls into your school even if you don't think it is good for your image. You would be surprised that you can be respected without being a bigshot. Hatzlocha!
5:40: Now THAT'S asking for a lot. It sounds like Bnos takes girls into their school even if they don't think it is good for their image. Why don't people just go there already???
I hear you . But if the statiscis show ,according to the bloggers here,that everybody who made a school has become Corrrupted by the power ,then why should I be different ? It is unlikely that I will be the only uncorrupted one out of all the other schools ?
There are many wonderful mechanchim who truly want to carry on the mesora of Bais Yaakov for every girl. Look elsewhere and you will find many role models.
To 5:20 pm: The answer is NO, not all elementary school children have been placed.
Let’s call a spade a spade. The core problem has nothing to with space in the schools or which schools the parents try to send their children to. Yes those issues add to the problem, but they are not the core of the problem. The problem here is that in this town nothing runs like a kehilla, in the whole country from coast to coast every city, and even in and around New York you have kehillas - chassidish, litvish, or modern, it makes no difference. In each group you have people who are more capable weather in ruchnius or gashmius, which help out those who are not. If a kehilla does not run like this it will eventually fall, in out of town it will start collapsing, and in the New York area it will just fall apart with member joining other groups or kehillas in New York. Lakewood has something nothing else has it was a community built on Torah which then caught a terrible disease that has spread from the top down and has manifested itself in every corner of this town . Instead of those that are capable helping those that are not, these peoples elitism got to there head and the started using their capabilities to control others peoples lives. It became all about control and power. How much power and who they could control. And how they could use the control for their self benefit.
But then the disease spread and it cam back to bite them. Lo and behold the epidemic of power hungry people spread. It spread to balai mosdos, having a vaad, concocting botei denim full of “roah bukker “.
Take one good look in the mirror for a second. here we are in Lakewood , which we call “ir hatorah “ a city which is supposed to built on torah – and took a look at who are running our mosdos , who are part of the vaadim running our city , who are on the botei dimin, full of people that any other city wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. It is embarrassing who the IR hatorah has on its “botei denim” and have running our institutions”. Even the chassidisha communities were learning torah is not put on such a high pedestal laugh at us . There is common denominator that most of these people have. They are “control freaks “. They are people, who whether consciously or subconsciously live and strive to control others. Instead of using their positions to help others, the reverse has happened they use their position to get others to serve their needs.
Now don’t get me wrong, not everyone of the individuals involved are like this, but even those that are not have their hands tied but those that are. This is a town were “one hand washes the other and two hands wash the face” – and therefore if you don’t “play ball” with the power brokers, you can’t go anywhere. Therefore unless you now otherwise you should give the ones running the mossad the benefit of the doubt, even though the majority or guilty
It is not that there is no room for 2-5% of the girls, it is that almost everyone who has a mossad is trying to control people, weather high school or elementary. They don’t care about you, or about your feelings, they don’t care about middos or hashkafa. They will sell out any hashkafa, if some guy comes with big bucks. What they care about is control, and if the have a mossad they are “part of the game.” they are now a” power broker “ , “player in the game “ people need them , and they can in turn use and control those who need them . They fact that everyone knows that some parents will have to get down on their knees, just plays into their hands.
in this town most schools are run like business,if there is no real money in it why help someone.
Dear truth hurts
You obviously are full of sour grapes. You don't realize that askonim have only a desire to help everyone. They do it with no interior motives. They help everyone and ask for nothing in return. We need to thank our askonim for getting us to where we are today. Withou them lakewood would be ateribble place to live.
What in gods name is an askan? And why does everyone hate them so much?where I come from people help each other and are appreciated not hated.
An askan is the guy who helps somebody and then the guy who got the help turns around and gives him a good kick in the .....
The Chasam Sofer once had somebody who was metzaer him very much . He told somebody " I am moichel him for what he is doing to me . The only thing is that I can't remember the favor that I must have done for him ,for him to be so nasty to me "
I get it so the askan is aguy that does favors for everyone. And those people hate them in return?just like us cops.
Re: The truth Hurts
Wow. Heavy stuff.
I am an askan. I have worked many long hours to help girls get in to high school that probably don't deserve to go to any of our schools. They show no respect and have behavior issues. But we worked tirelessly to help them and many good girls had to suffer and not get accepted because of them. Next year we have all decided to stay out of the issue no one appreciates what we do. So next year you are all on your own we will find other things to do like spend time with our kids or learn.
Ok let's try again. Someone asked why a certain school is not getting flooded witha pplicants. Let us just say there are many issues and many were warnedthere are problems and to consider another hoigh school. Can you print that tls?
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