Parents demonstrate for democracy

The parents demanded that Ra'anana adopt the embattled Democratic School school, which has been ordered to close at the end of this school year.

By MIRIAM BULWAR DAVID HAY (TRANSATED)
The struggle for the embattled Democratic School in Givat Hen, just outside Ra'anana, reached a new pitch when parents demonstrated at a city council meeting recently, reports Ha'ir Ra'anana. The parents demanded that Ra'anana adopt the school, which has been ordered to close at the end of this school year, and said it was unfair that children wanting to attend a Democratic School would have to go to Kfar Saba or Hod Hasharon. According to the report, the parents held up signs at the council meeting demanding that the issue be discussed, but they were silenced and the subject was not raised. One parent said it was known that some Ra'anana councilors supported the idea of the school's moving to Ra'anana, but Mayor Nahum Hofree and his coalition did not. He said Hofree had offered to find a "solution" for the parents, but had then simply invited them to enroll their children at regular schools in Ra'anana. A municipal spokesman said the Democratic School was a private organization and the city would not allocate land to private academic institutions, although it was willing to help the school find a building to rent.