Netanyahu aims to balance security image with school reform
Opposition head says will make teaching more attractive by raising salaries by as much as 50 percent.
By Mazal MualemLikud 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.
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So we will have to please parents, can be fired at will, and be better than we are- since obviously teachers are not worth much. The antidote to our slowly dying education sytem does not lie in big changes. Most teachers put their heart and soul into their pupils and teaching. Illogically so since the wage they get sends them the message not to give a damn. Imagine the change if teachers got a good wage.The same teachers who do tons for a pittance would finally feel that they are recognized and valued for their work.You do not have to be brilliant to know that you get what you pay for -usually - and despite teachers being paid a pittance most of them actually care for their pupils and work more than for what they are paid already. Once the wage went up the level of education would go up too - teachers just need a wage that allows them do what they are good at and love without having to go off and do 10 private lessons and another half misrah in order to pay the mortgage.
So Haaretz criticizes Netanyahu also when his proposals are positive and take into account the social needs of his country. He has does it for bad intents... he just want to "balance his security image", and out of political ambition, contrary to the Israeli left composed of good intended people, who are only seeking the power for good and human purposes. If Netanyahu proposes needed social measures that the left does not propose, its the left which should criticized for it !!! Additional article of Haaretz translating the mentally illness of the left in Israel. We have the same problem in France.
Bibi may not be the most likeable (understatement), but he's right (and not politically): BIBI got our governement spending under control, lowered our unemployment, and got the economy booming again so that more average Israelis could take part. BIBI had less terror attacks in his term as Prime Minister then anyone since. BIBI understands the nature of the Iranian threat, even if our loud-talking (but no folowthrough) leaders don't. Esther's pathological fixation just not BIBI - why the hell not!!
Now "education" is his latest gimmick. Netanyahu learned more about salesmanship while working at the "Rim" furniture outlet that he ever did at MIT (Roger #2).
Mike, I admit that you definitely have a point. Actually I was referring mainly to the nakba episode and the general approach to minorities. Neither Yuli nor Livnat were able to make even a dent in the burgeoning haredi educational system.
Esther- Do tell please, what precisely has 'our Yuli' implemented?? Livnat was a disaster, Yuli Tamir is turning out to be a political hack who is not capable of changing the inherent mediocrity of the system. I am no great fan of Netanyahu, and wonder what is the real agenda behind this latest spin; but on the other hand the current stagnation of "our Yuli" is not helping...
He's probably hand-in-hand with the indignant ousted Livnat.... keen to overturn everything that our Yuli implemented....
Bibi may be the man, and I'd like to vote for him as I think he did save the economy and seems to be emphasizing education, but I'm worried about what comes with the deal. When Likud was in power so was Shas. So was merkaz halikud. Bibi, what else comes with the deal?
Bibi saved the Israeli economy from total collapse. The current prosperity Israel enjoys is the direct result of Bibi's polcies. Bibi was trained in MIT, a leading world unversity. The other Israeli leaders are political cronies and hve no education in the Ministry they head.
Finally someone realises that education is a little bit more important to the nation than the corruption in the government.If BIBI does give what he promises Israel will gain .Bibi did show that he sticks it out and the finance of the country gained from his hard direction ,so will education win if he keeps his promises.