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Ran Erez
צילום: ירון ברנר
Saluting Ran Erez
Uri Elitzur supports teachers’ union leader because he was slammed by media
First, I wish to salute Teachers’ Union Head Ran Erez. I still don’t know exactly what and how much he gained on behalf of education compared to what another leader could have gained, but I’m on his side – because everyone is against him.
I hear all the commentators and newscasters, those who were supporting the teachers’ strike and those who were against it, hollowly repeating the mantra that the teachers deserve a better leader, without providing justifications or reasonable explanations for this argument – as if this was some kind of mandatory message that must be repeated in order to be part of the “good guys.”
This made me understand that Ran Erez has been singled out by those who shape our media world. This is the way they have been talking about Benjamin Netanyahu and Effie Eitam. This is how they spoke about late Prime Minister Menachem Begin at the time, and this is how they spoke about Ariel Sharon, before he became a protected figure. Those who shape public opinion and single out people do not waste energy on people who are not serious.
Of course there is no way of knowing who those tough media masters are exactly, the ones who know how to dictate mantras and facilitate such obedience throughout the herd, but we can guess that the toughest guys are close associates of Education Minister Yuli Tamir back from the days of Peace Now.
My next guess is that this is the manner in which the honorable minister, with the aid of some old friends, attempted to address the teachers’ struggle: Personally eliminating Ran Erez. Yet Erez was not dragged into a battle for his image and name, even though he had the tools to do that. There was quite a bit of money there for PR and plenty of airtime. Yet Ran Erez put his dignity aside and did not waste even one shekel or one minute of airtime in order to argue with his slanderers and defend his ego. And I say this to his credit.
However, among other things, because of this the Teachers’ Union managed to convince that public that it was not fighting for money, but rather, for education and honor; that Israel’s education system is indeed neglected and deteriorating; and that this matter should be at the top of the State’s agenda.
The most bothersome sentence that will remembered from these two months is the one blurted out by Finance Minister Ronnie Bar-On, who said we cannot demand the prime minister’s intervention in this affair because “he is busy managing national affairs.” A significant part of the 100,000 people who showed up at the Rabin Square demonstration came because of that sentence. Sir, they yelled from the square, who cares about Annapolis? The state of education is the most important national affair.
Democracy not a synonym for chutzpa
If in the next elections this would be the main issue people talk about, don’t forget to quietly applaud Ran Erez, at home in front of the TV. And as the struggle was not for money, but rather, for the dignity of teachers, it succeeded even if ultimately it turns out there was no dramatic breakthrough in terms of money. The way the strike was managed and its public effect regained the dignity of teachers and the teaching profession, and reinforced the status of education on the “national affairs” scale.On the other hand, the opposite is also true: Even if we see a very significant rise in terms of money, this is not what will be salvaging our sinking education system. There is certainly a connection between teacher salaries and teacher dignity, and hence there is a link between teacher salaries and the level of education in Israel, yet money is only one of the decisive factors, and not the most important one.
While teachers were folding their signs, university lecturers were still striking. Their salaries are low not only compared to their colleagues abroad but also compared to their neighbors in Jerusalem or Petach Tikva. And still, lecturers do not quit their profession (some of them leave the country, and that’s very bad.) There is no money there, but there is honor. Doctors in Israel also early low salaries, yet still their profession is honored, and the best people try to become doctors.
The teaching profession will not be gaining honor through money or smaller classes. The honor, and the best people, will go to education only because of an atmosphere of dignity at the schools.
During the strike, we saw a demonstration by students demanding rights for their teachers, and that’s nice. Yet in the newspaper I saw a picture of a cute teenager, maybe 14 or 15 years old, holding a sign reading “Yuli, you old rag.” You would think this was about democracy, but no, my friends. This is rowdiness. Yuli Tamir is a minister in the Israeli government, and you are a 15-year-old kid. You cannot hold up such rude sign. Not at our school.
And this, my friends the teachers, cannot be done by anyone but you. No reform and no “system.” It’s you down there in the trenches; each teacher in their classroom, each group of teachers in its school. Gather at the office and decide to put an end to the rowdiness. Learn to say “not at our school” to both students and parents.
Democracy is not a synonym for chutzpa, and equality is not the same as rowdiness. Treat each other with dignity and demand that your students show dignity to you. This is the required basis for regaining the dignity, and boosting the achievements, of Israeli education.
