Last update - 00:00 30/07/2007
Netanyahu aims to balance security image with school reform
By Mazal Mualem, Haaretz Correspondent
Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu has put together a plan for reforming the education system as the centerpiece of his election campaign for prime minister. Netanyahu's campaign slogan has been chosen "A good teacher in every classroom" and he is vowing to restore Israel's place among the top 10 countries vis-a-vis pupils' math and science scores, within four years of his election.
With no national elections on the horizon, Netanyahu is using the primaries for the Likud leadership on August 14 to campaign for prime minister. Ignoring rival Likud contenders Moshe Feiglin, who heads the Jewish Leadership faction, and Danny Danon, who chairs World Likud, Netanyahu is talking about educational reform and the Iranian threat.
His choice of education as Likud's central campaign message was not random. His standing is solid regarding political and security matters, especially in the wake of he Second Lebanon War and the prominence of the Iranian threat at the top of the national agenda, but social issues are a weak spot for Netanyahu, who is still dogged by his image as a hard-hearted finance minister who has hurt the poor.
The party leader will strive to position himself as a social-issues candidate by means of his educational reform plan, which will emphasize his can-do skills and record of setting and achieving clear goals as treasury chief.
Netanyahu's people say this is no empty election slogan, but an orderly plan formulated after a year-long immersion in the subject. The plan boils down to raising the bar for admitting new teachers through a more stringent selection process, and making their profession more attractive by raising salaries by as much as 50 percent.
Netanyahu also wants to give principals the power to hire and fire teachers based on merit, with input from parents and the Education Ministry.