from the Jerusalem Post:

Gov’t may foot bill for Diaspora schoolteachers’ Israel trips

The government may soon help fund trips to Israel for Diaspora educators, under a proposal being examined in the Prime Minister’s Office.

On Monday, an internal advisory meeting chaired by cabinet secretary Oved Yehezkel discussed a new track for Masa, a government agency that brings Diaspora youth to Israel for five- and 10-month programs.

“The plan is to create a new path” for teachers in Jewish schools in the Diaspora to come on two-week trips, Yehezkel told The Jerusalem Post Tuesday. Though still in the planning stages, the project could be underway by 2009, since “the money is there” in unused funds slated for Masa participants, he said.