9,000 shekels a month for two children: the bluff behind the subsidy promised to parents

The state aims to bring families back to border-adjacent communities, encourage young people to stay in the Galilee, and attract new residents by promising a significant subsidy for daycare and kindergarten tuition, intended to lower parents' costs by about 2,000 shekels per month. However, in some communities within the Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council, parents discovered just before the school year that while the state gives with one hand, the council reaches deep into their pockets with the other.

Parents of toddlers in the council's daycares were surprised to find they must pay an additional 600 shekels per month per child for the upcoming school year as part of an "extra package." This is in addition to the more than 4,000 shekels per month per child that parents must pay upfront until the state subsidy is approved and retroactively returned. For a family with two children, this totals over 9,000 shekels per month.

Towards the end of the war, the government decided to subsidize tuition in border-adjacent areas to encourage families to move North and restore life to affected communities. At the start of the previous school year, the Ministry of Settlement and National Missions, led by Minister Orit Strock, boasted about opening a new daycare in Zar'it, which had been closed for years due to an aging population.

However, the benefit was granted only to families from the new core group. Young local families were left without a solution and forced to drive their children to daycares outside the community.

Shuval Amit Adoni, a resident of Zar'it and mother of two, managed to secure a spot for her children. In an interview with Radio North 104.5FM, she explained that while the subsidy is supposed to keep costs around 1,000 shekels per month per child, the money is delayed.

"Receiving the money from the state takes a long time," she said. "Some parents spent a whole year dealing with the Ministry of Labor to get a retroactive refund. I was among the first to receive it because I was on the phone every day."

Amit Adoni paid full tuition from September to January before receiving the subsidy. This time, she must again shell out over 4,000 shekels per child until the money arrives, plus the 600-shekel "extra package" fee, which is not covered by the subsidy.

Previously, this package was 300 shekels per month. "Because of the situation with Iran, we didn't scrutinize this extra package," she said. "We decided to focus on the main things: our children, the war, and what is happening here."

For the upcoming year, the amount doubled to 600 shekels. Previously, parents were told this funded a meat lunch. However, the Zar'it daycare has only a dairy kitchen and cannot prepare meat. Now, parents are told the 600 shekels are for salary supplements for staff.

"They claim it's for salary raises, and at the same time claim we aren't entitled to a meat dish under Ministry of Labor menus, so it's included," she said. "I am not the employer. They do holy work, but if the council is in deficit, the management is failing. I shouldn't pay for that."

Comparisons with other councils raise further questions. "Some councils charge no extra package or only 92 shekels. How did you get to 600? Especially for parents with two children—that's another 1,200 shekels."

Parents are also angry about the timing: they learned of the doubling just two weeks before school, after paying registration fees. For Amit Adoni, the 600-shekel dispute makes her question if it is even worth going to work, given her low hourly wage.

In response, the Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council stated: "The council views early childhood education as a supreme mission, operating 8 daycares for about 200 children. Based on a pedagogical concept, the council chose not to settle for the state's minimum staffing ratio, reinforcing manpower to an average ratio of 1:6 to 1:7. This improvement, alongside an expanded service package including speech therapy, occupational therapy, emotional therapy, and clubs, creates an excess cost of about 2 million NIS per year. The council absorbs about 50% of this cost, while parents participate in an amount of 450-600 NIS per month (separate from basic tuition set by the Ministry of Labor)."