We had the opportunity to change jobs and move to another province and a much smaller Jewish community. Our salaries would have been higher and the cost of living significantly lower. Of utmost appeal was the subsidized Jewish day school for all—kindergarten through high school. It seemed unreal.
Ontario, I believe, is the only province that does not provide some government funding for Jewish day schools. Full-day high school tuition would have cost us $9,900 (instead of the current $26,500 in Toronto). And beyond this amount, families could still apply for assistance! However, on the flip side, we would have left our family, friends, synagogue, current Jewish day school, and years of building up an extended community life in all respects.
It turned out that the jobs fell through, but we seriously considered this move, in large part due to the affordable Jewish education for our children. So, now we are left with the middle-class struggles of tuition, turning down social invitations, watching the gas price alerts to schedule when we will fill up the car, price checking at the grocery store checkouts, and more.
It is a challenge, and not the life I had hoped for, but we are committed Jewish day school parents and we keep reminding ourselves of the legacy we are leaving our children.
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Read other stories:
- I Cried when I Got Our Electricity Bill
- We Cannot Afford to Buy Red Meat
- We Fight about if We Can Afford to Have Another Child
- Lying Awake at Night Worried about the Bills
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We are sharing personal stories about how the affordability issue affects families in our community. We are posting these stories anonymously.
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Grassroots for Affordable Jewish Education 