Last update - 00:00 16/10/2006
Local municipalities postpone school lunch program
By Yulie Khromchenko, Haaretz Correspondent
Local municipalities will not start their full school lunch program Monday as planned, because of a continuing budget crisis between the Education Ministry and the Prime Minister's Office.
Deputy Director General of the Union of Local Authorities, Yaakov Egmon announced that the program will be suspended as long as the Knesset's Education and Finance Committees don't re-divide funding for the program between local authorities and parents.
Director General of the Union of Local Authorities Adi Eldar met Sunday with Education Minister Yuli Tamir in attempt to solve the crisis.
Deputy Director General of the Yedid organization [The Association for Community Empowerment] Ran Melamed also announced Sunday that if the municipalities prevent the school lunch law from being enforced and delay implementation of the program, his organization will petition the High Court of Justice.
Tamir said she was not worried about any petition, and that the "High Court of Justice will understand that there are bound to be delays in the implementation of this program."
The Union of Local Authorities maintains that the budget for this program, which was approved by the Education and Finance Committees earlier this year, casts a financial burden on the municipalities estimated at NIS 20 million. Local authorities say they do not have sufficient funding for the program.
Tamir promised Sunday that she will pass a revised edition of the law to the Education and Finance Committees, which would expand funding from parents and lessen the burden on local authorities. However, MK Michael Melchior, head of the Education Committee, said no date has been set to re-open talks over the program.