Regarding the article “At Elite Day Schools, Competition Now More Intense” (April 25), long gone are the days of community loyalty to local Jewish day schools, particularly at the high school level. So why should parents be surprised if scholarship funds awarded are merit based, and not exclusive to financial assistance? Much of the reluctance of offering need-based financial assistance is the concern that certain parents are not truly needy and are taking advantage of a “free ride” to which they may not be legitimately entitled. By having the local communities raise funds for their own neighbors in need to be dispersed by their own committees to schools of preference, not necessarily schools of proximity, the burden upon the yeshiva would be transferred to
the community itself. The funds raised from within the community would supplement tuition costs so that each student is paying the same, regardless of the source of the funds. This in turn would also keep tuition down, as a portion of the full paying parent’s tuition would not need to be allocated to financial assistance. If the students are “free agents,” then the yeshivot should reciprocate in like fashion, and instead of parents blaming the school, which has no remaining obligation to the community for not providing financial assistance, let the blame for not looking after the needy fall where it belongs: on their fellow neighbors, if it is they who choose not to accept this responsibility.
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