In a thought-provoking online post, financial strategist and advisor Eli Fried offered a fresh perspective on the challenges of skyrocketing yeshivah tuition.

Fried, known for his candid and straightforward approach, cut through the noise and finger-pointing to highlight what he sees as the core issue: a lack of government funding and insufficient school choice.

Fried opened his post by tackling the common complaints often levied against yeshivos, such as overpricing, inefficiency, stingy donors, or luxurious expenditures on donuts and marble lobbies. While these issues might frustrate parents and make for easy targets, Fried made it clear that none of these factors address the systemic challenge at the heart of the problem.

“The key root cause is NOT overpricing, inefficiency, or apathetic parents,” Fried wrote. Instead, he pinpointed the crux of the crisis: the absence of sufficient government funding for private religious schools and a lack of robust school choice programs.

Triple Burden on Parents

Fried’s argument resonates with many in the community who feel trapped under an overwhelming financial burden. He outlined the triple financial hit parents face:

  1. Property taxes: Families pay significant taxes to fund public schools their children don’t attend.
  2. Income taxes: A portion of federal and state income taxes also goes to support public education systems.
  3. Yeshivah tuition: On top of those mandatory contributions, parents must pay steep tuition fees for private Jewish education.

“This is a multi-billion-dollar drain annually,” Fried noted, emphasizing how this financial model unfairly disadvantages families who prioritize religious education.

Fried didn’t shy away from acknowledging that secondary issues—like pricing, transparency, and donor involvement—can and should be addressed. However, he was adamant that these measures would amount to little more than Band-Aids. Without tackling the systemic lack of government funding and advocating for school choice programs, he argued, the crisis would persist.

Fried’s post is a rallying cry for the frum community to focus its efforts on long-term solutions. “We can and should tinker with the other cost factors,” he wrote, “but the problem needs to be addressed at its root. Everything else is slapping Band-Aids.”

{Matzav.com}