[etni] more on Dovratization of education

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They say that the whole idea of giving compensation for the time spent 
on teaching enhancement (taking in-service courses) will be abandoned 
under the Dovrat plan. No more gmulim.

My experience indicates that 80 to 90% of the teachers taking in-service 
courses will not take them if there is no gmul attached. This means one 
of the two possible scenarios (most probably a combination of the two):

1. Most teachers will refrain from taking any courses at all. This will 
adversely affect the [already dwindling] quality of teaching. I am not 
talking of courses like "Guided Movie-Watching" or "Interior Design for 
Teachers" - entertaining and personally enriching as they are ;-), they 
have very little to do with the quality of teaching per se. But not 
taking serious and useful courses is detrimental, no doubt.

2. In order to maintain the quality - or at least to be able to report 
of an effort to do so - the Ministry will replace positive stimulation 
(take a course - get a gmul) with negative one (take a course - or 
else...). I've seen this approach in action in Russia. I'd hate to see 
it work here - not the kind of deja vu I'd welcome or enjoy.


Now a few words on the attempts to bell/skin the cat. The unions do not 
represent us - they represent themselves. The only way to change the 
situation is to stop paying the ransom. I have already canceled my 
membership in the Irgun and strongly urge you all to do the same.

This is especially relevant for the new teachers who do not have tenure. 
You are not protected by any collective agreements guys, so there is 
absolutely no sense you should pay anything to the Irgun/Histadrut, 
because when you get fired no-one will negotiate on your behalf!

(And there's nothing to lose - you can always renew your membership if 
you change your mind!)

The only thing that can change the way the unions threat us teachers in 
the field is to hit them where it hurts most - their pocket. As soon as 
200 teachers cancel their membership they will "suddenly" change their 
policies. I've recently visited the Irgun headquarters in Tel Aviv. 
Believe me their working conditions are much better than yours. And they 
really value their padded armchairs and airstrip-sized desks. A drop in 
membership figures will convince them to take action faster than any 
other tool.

And the only way to make the government listen is a strike. Not a 
one-hour strike - a strike till we get what we want. The dockers went on 
strike until Netaniyahu gave up on his privatization plan - even though 
it hit the country's pocket very hard and probably ruined more than one 
tax-paying company.

Don't tell me strikes hurt the kids more than the ministry. The way 
things are going now will simply destroy the education system - then we 
are all in deep **** because our only economic advantage - the famous 
Jewish brains - will be lost. Today Israel imports unskilled labor; in 
ten years we'll have to import programmers; in 20 years we'll have no 
money left to import anything.

If you can afford not to care, keep whining to the list, writing 
petitions no-one will read, and doing nothing. If you care - start with 
an action. Cancel your union membership today.

Best -

Lev



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