Melbourne school fee subsidy program aims to stem drift to public sector

NOMI KALTMANN explores a pilot program to enable Jewish school parents to apply for fee discounts through an independent fee assessment board, without having to approach their school directly.

By any metric, 20-year-old Noah Loven is exceptional. An Arts/Law student at Monash University in Melbourne, he is also the Public Affairs Coordinator of the Australian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS), a BBYO Associate Regional Adviser, as well as a Hineni Youth and Welfare madrich. Loven is also the United Jewish Education Board’s Bar Mitzvah Coordinator. With such a stellar resume, any Jewish school would be proud to brag about Loven.

However, Loven is a product of Victoria’s public school system, graduating in 2020 from Glen Eira College, where he also served as school captain.

“I went to CJC [Caulfield Junior College, a local public school] for primary and Glen Eira College for high school,” says Loven.  Throughout his schooling, he had a mix of Jewish and non-Jewish friends. “I was probably closer with my Jewish friends at secondary school due to our shared experiences. We would say Shabbat shalom [to each other] on Friday. We would coalesce around Jewish holidays.”

If current demographics continue, Victoria’s public school system is likely to birth many other stellar Jewish leaders of Loven’s calibre in the future. In data compiled by Gen17, one of the largest surveys on Jewish life in Australia, an increasing proportion of Jewish children were recorded as attending public schools. The increase is particularly evident at the primary school level. From 2006-16, the proportion of Jewish children aged 5-11 attending a government school increased from 30% to 38%; and at high school for children aged 12-18, it rose from 20% in 2006 to 24% in 2016.

In both cases, that is an increase of 20%.

For Loven, one of the advantages of public school was being in a multicultural environment which closely mirrors the communities that most Australians live in. “In Jewish day schools you don’t get many kids from Indian or Chinese or Vietnamese or Somalian backgrounds. [Going to school with kids] from all backgrounds really broadens your horizons and your world view,” he says, noting, “parents are choosing and opting to go to non-Jewish school because it reflects the real world”.

While Melbourne’s 10 Jewish day schools are the pride and joy of the community, producing exceptional Year 12 results, and famous high-achieving alumni, they are also notoriously expensive. In 2023, some Jewish schools are already charging in excess of $40,000 for Year 12, making Jewish day schools more unaffordable than ever. In a climate of rising inflation and increasing cost of living pressures, the number of Jewish students attending public schools is likely to continue its upward climb.  

However, if a new initiative in Melbourne’s Jewish community takes off, Jewish families who would have sent their children to a public school due to financial constraints may be able to access private Jewish day schools.

Since 2022, Alan Schwartz AO and the Jewish Education Foundation have been implementing a two-year community pilot operating an independent fee assessment board. Community stalwart Nechama Bendet heads the Board's Secretariat. The independent fee assessment board helps match families that could not otherwise afford to attend a Jewish school with unfilled vacancies at Jewish day schools for a discounted rate.

For many families, the independent fee assessment board is revolutionary because although families can always approach Jewish day schools directly for financial assistance, the independent fee assessment board process is different.

“It’s all very confidential. Families can come to the independent fee assessment board [without going to the school]. Their discount is assessed using an economic model that was created by an economist,” explains Bendet. “If the family has special circumstances, there is an allowance in the model and if the applicant says they have a disability, or is caring for elderly parents, then the fee assessment board can increase their discount,” she says.

The discount would apply for the duration of the applicant’s enrolment, with annual reviews. Discounts vary according to individual circumstances of the families applying, and range from nothing for high income families up to 90% for very low-income families. One family who applied told The Jewish Independent the amount offered was affordable and took into account their financial situation, which includes renting. “My husband and I are both working close to full time. [The proposed amount from the fee assessment board] was definitely affordable for us," one woman said.

“Ultimately this is a model that seeks not to just throw money at Jewish schools but seeks solutions. By filling vacancies, we can bring in additional income from state and federal funding as well as fees. This benefits all schools and then all students benefit. And of course, more Jewish students can then go to Jewish school,” says Bendet.

With all major Jewish day schools in Melbourne signing up to the two-year pilot, any vacancies that are filled represent potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra funding for Jewish schools for little incremental cost. “Most costs involved with a school are fixed,” says Bendet. “There is an existing school, with an existing class and an existing teacher with an existing cleaner,” she says. “Adding extra students does not increase these costs.”

Bendet understands that not all Jewish children want or can be in a Jewish school. “Of the children in non-Jewish schools, we understand and respect that not all of them want to be in Jewish schools. And that’s absolutely fine. There are some families who are happy in government schools and we completely respect that. We [the fee assessment board] are there for families where fees are barriers,” she says.

So far, she says the reception has been positive. “The biggest question we get is ‘why come to us when families can go to the schools directly?’ But our process is online. It's independent. It's certain. It's dignified and it's confidential and simple for the applicant to complete.”

In 2022, the fee board received 120 applications and 28 children enrolled, representing about 24% of applicants. In 2023, the Fee assessment board changed the process to provide parents with an indication of the fee discount they would receive before they formally applied. This increased the percentage of children who proceeded to enrolment to over 50% of applicants (in February, the board received 40 applications and 21 children enrolled) and has just closed its final round for 2023 with 45 applicants, with enrolment discussions ongoing.

To date, the fee assessment board also works with philanthropists in Melbourne’s Jewish community to ensure the sustainability of the pilot.

“We have philanthropists who ensure that schools receive minimum fee contributions. The beauty of this is a partnership approach. The schools do their bit by forgoing some of their fees. The donors prop up the fees of low-income families. And parents are doing what they can and together, we leverage off state and federal funding for schools,” says Bendet.

For now, with the fee assessment board is uncertain about how long it will it exist, families that accept an offer can be confident that the offer will remain in place. “We are going to meet with schools and philanthropists [at the end of the pilot] and decide whether we should continue. No decision on that has been made yet. Regardless of whether we continue or not, any children that enrolled will continue on,” says Bendet.

Although the indications are positive, fees are only one reason why Melbourne’s Jewish parents have been switching to public schools. It remains to be seen whether the fee assessment board’s assistance will be enough to stem or reverse the trend. 

Photo: Students at Mount Scopus College