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Last update - 23:09 08/07/2008 Tamir apologizes for 'unparliamentary' Knesset outburst By Or Kashti, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service Tags: Education Ministry  Education Minister Yuli Tamir apologized Tuesday evening for using language that was "not parliamentary" during a Knesset committee hearing earlier in the day. Tamir (Labor) and the former director general of the ministry, MK Ronit Tirosh (Kadima), exchanged heated words at a Knesset Education Committee meeting on Tuesday. In a statement released Tuesday, Tamir said she was "sorry that she used an expression that was not parliamentary." The education minister added, though, that Tirosh, who accused Tamir of calling her "a piece of shit," is guilty of "arrogance" who "lent a hand to billions in budget cuts as well as cutting 250,000 instruction hours during her five-year term as director general of the education ministry." Advertisement "Instead of redeeming herself, the MK is doing all she can to thwart the reforms introduced by the education minister together with the teachers union, all the while she is trying to cover up her responsibility for the decline of the education system during her tenure," Tamir's statement read. During the Knesset panel session, Tamir blamed Tirosh for her management of the ministry, saying, "I'm clearing out all the trash you left me in the system." Tirosh took offense and responded, "I can't believe this - she called me a piece of shit." The argument took place during a discussion on a planned education reform program entitled "New Horizon." Teachers claim ministry won't let them opt out of reform School faculties that have told the Education Ministry they are refusing to join its reform next year say they have received no official response, and some even have been told by their principals and supervisors that the reform is being adopted despite their opposition. The Education Ministry says the new employment terms under New Horizon will not be forced on schools where most of the teachers oppose it, but stated, "The teachers can decide only after familiarizing themselves with the details of the reform." The Education Ministry and the Teachers' Union said about 15 refusal letters have been received so far, many of which arrived in the past week. Next school year, about 450 schools are expected to join the reform. The wording of the refusal letters is almost uniform: "In accordance with the promise of Education Minister Yuli Tamir, given in Be'er Sheva on June 17 and in the Knesset plenum on June 25, a school where most of the teachers refuse to join the New Horizon agreement will not adopt the agreement. In that case, we, the majority of the teachers at the school, are opposed to joining the agreement." Most of the letters were sent to the school principal, the district Education Ministry officials (the supervisor, the district director and the manpower director), Tamir and Teachers Union director general Yossi Wasserman. "Although we sent refusal letters three weeks ago, the last one at the end of June, we are yet to receive a response," said a teacher from the Mordei Ha'getaot school in Ramat Gan, who was afraid to give her name. "This is not merely a bureaucratic issue, which may be annoying but has no practical consequences: As far as we know from the principal, we are supposed to adopt the reform next year, even though we have stated we will be waiving that pleasure." Teachers at other schools are saying similar things. "The lack of response to the letters is systematic. We fear they're planning to ignore our opposition. The principal, for example, didn't want to accept the refusal letter, claiming she doesn't need our consent because a collective agreement has been signed, and the matter does not depend on the teachers' wishes," says a teacher from Ramat Hasharon's Amirim school. In spite of the lack of any official Education Ministry response, PR teams are being sent to some of the schools in order to try to convince the teachers to join the reform. Last week a former Education Ministry accountant general, Moti Meroz, visited several schools in Eilat that had expressed opposition to the reform. The Education Ministry claims that most of the city's educational institutions changed their minds as a result. The ministry also says there is a waiting list of 100 schools that want to join the reform next year. The Teachers Union adds that not a single teacher who worked under the new conditions this year asked to back out, even though they were given the opportunity. However, many teachers say there has been a campaign to pressure them to adopt the reform. The Education Ministry responded to the teachers' claims, "There is an unequivocal promise that a school will not be required to join the reform if most of its teachers are opposed." However, the ministry added, "Before deciding, the teachers must familiarize themselves with the organizational and pedagogical details of the agreement." It added, "We will handle any case that is brought to our attention. If even after the process Bookmark to del.icio.us   By the numbers A study shows Jewish Israeli men live almost four years longer than Israeli Arabs. Local threat The Shin Bet arrests two Bedouin, accused of supplying information to al-Qaida.   1.   Why tell this like a gossip item..?! 17:26  |  Esther 08/07/08   2.   Ministry of Education: Imbecile blame stupid for mismanagement 18:07  |  Ulf 08/07/08   3.   Get rid of ALL trash 19:01  |  A teacher 08/07/08   4.   Esther -it is only about gossip 19:03  |  Jewboy. 08/07/08   5.   i wonder why there is a shortage of english teachers??!! 19:05  |  Ka 08/07/08   6.   Seems "New Horizons" end at the tip of nose 19:39  |  A thinking Jew 08/07/08   7.   Never will the twain meet... 20:54  |  Esther 08/07/08   8.   Answer 2 7 23:22  |  yael 08/07/08   9.   Tamir has been an almost total failure .. 00:29  |  redmike 09/07/08   10.   #1 - the first 5 paragraphs explain it .. 00:33  |  redmike 09/07/08   11.   link to teachers that will make you smile or cry .. 00:42  |  redmike 09/07/08   12.   what was really said! 01:03  |  radio listener 09/07/08   13.   Watching Tamir on TV last night she sounds like a wacko 04:22  |  Genuine Tosefta 09/07/08   14.   Ulf you are an incoherent idiot too 04:25  |  Genuine Tosefta 09/07/08   15.   Trash trashes Trash 20:41  |  A thinking Jew 09/07/08   16.   #14 you sound like you reccomend ULF 20:43  |  Jessica 09/07/08   17.   Ministry of Education: Imbecile blame stupid for mismanagement 22:43  |  Ulf 09/07/08   18.   #15-6 About a girl... 22:51  |  Ulf 09/07/08   19.   Ulfspeak at its Ulfest 00:37  |  A Bored Jew 10/07/08

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