ANot-so-Simple Majority
Inthe podcast ‘anot so simple majority,`there is a review of what goes on in a public school in New YorkCity. In East Ramapo, there are two types of schools. There is thepublic school as well as the private schools called Yeshiva wherestaunch Jews also called Hasid take their children. They believe thattheir children are supposed to study under strict rules and using thelanguage that they best understand. At the beginning, they were theminority in the population. However, with time the population hasgrown and outdone the parents who take children into the publicschools. Public schools are left for the poor since almost 78% iscatered for by the government through the taxes paid.
Thelaws state that everybody in the region is supposed to pay the taxesused in financing public schools. However, the government does notcater for expenses in Yeshivas. The Hasid group gets double chargesas they have to pay taxes as well as pay school fees for theirchildren in Yeshiva. When they need help in buying school buses theycan only get it through public school. Therefore, it is theirresponsibility to vote for the public school budget. In case theywant to vote it down, they are advised to step down and stop voting.Therefore, it is the reason that one notices a difference of 1000people in two consecutive voting seasons. At the beginning, there are6000 people voting and the following time only 5000 people vote.
Religiousfreedom causes financial pressure over the Hasid group. In as much asreligion determines their way of life, it is economically humiliatingthem. Most of the people in the team fall under two social statusgroups. They are either poor or lower middle class. In such asituation, their financial status is already wanting and an additionof taxes and a private institution is additional to financialoppression. In this case, religion is to blame as it pressures thoseJews to incur extra cost in education through taking children inYeshivas.
Politicalpower advocates for a majority who have their way as the minorityhave their say. In East Ramapo, the majority at the beginning tooktheir children to public school. When Hasid group settled in thesuburb of East Ramapo, they started Yeshiva institutions. With time,their population grew and most people started taking their childrenin Yeshiva. However, everyone was to pay taxes for schools. Electionsare made to choose a board of directors. Most of the directors havetheir children in Yeshiva schools. People are allowed to vote for andagainst the budget. To prevent the budget from being voted out,people are advised to step down from voting. Eventually, the budgetis voted and everyone is forced to continue paying taxes. In thiscase, the majority comparison is among those that vote and those thatdo not vote but think otherwise are not counted.
Inconclusion, there is no equity in the distribution of resources. Theboard leaders whose children are not in the public school systemwould like to close public schools. However, they forget to cater forthe poor who are benefitting from these public schools. The law isnot fair as it forces the poor among the Jews to incur extra cost. Onthe other hand, religion does not consider extreme situations of theJews suffering to pay taxes and at the same time pay school fees fortheir children in Yeshiva.