The table does lie

Sometimes the table lies and is misleading. Sometimes it hides facts and does not paint the full picture. At the beginning of the week, a study was published pointing to the investment of local authorities in the field of education. The headline screamed: "The strong get stronger." It is enough to look at the first place in the table to understand that this theory is simply not true. And in first place — Nesher! Nesher, a town bordering Haifa, belongs to the 7th decile in the socio-economic ranking. It is not one of the richest towns in the country, and yet it is at the top of the table. The mayor and city council members chose to put education at the top of their priorities. Or Yehuda and Nof HaGalil (5th decile!) are also at the top of the list, which reinforces the claim that the headline is incorrect.

The claim that local authorities should be prevented from investing additional resources in the education of their children is taken from countries we would not want to resemble; I assume that equal investment in every child is practiced in North Korea and similar regimes. It is a mayor's duty to act for the development of the city and the welfare of its residents. Mayors have understood that one should not settle for squares and flowers, but for children. Voters and the elected have internalized that a quality education system is a condition for choosing and being chosen.

In my youth, I lived for a few years in a kibbutz. It was a time when the kibbutz was managed according to egalitarian, tough, uncompromising rules. More than once, I was amazed by 'egalitarian' decisions that seemed immoral to me. I remember that once, at one of the members' meetings, one of the participants shouted: "If you want to line up a row of people against the wall and make sure they are all the same height, you have two options: either cut off the heads of the tall ones, or put the short ones on a chair." Everyone burst into laughter, and he teared up. It wasn't funny — in those days, the members preferred to cut off the heads of the tall ones. The state's duty is to put the lower authorities on a chair, not to criticize or, heaven forbid, prevent authorities interested in investing in their children's education.

So what to do? Formulate a personal, shekel-based, differential basket for every student. In the "From System to Education" outline developed in the Pnima movement, we clarified that the right way is to lead to responsible decentralization, based on a comprehensive and mandatory personal basket that includes the services, conditions, and content necessary for the growth of every student in Israel — regardless of their place of residence. The 'basic basket' will be a quality basket that will focus on knowledge, values, and skills in a way that will ensure the future of the graduates and the future of the country. Thus, the state will not evade its responsibility to provide proper education to every child. This is also the way to help authorities that are truly unable to invest additional resources. At the same time, it is the right and perhaps even the duty of authorities interested in investing resources beyond the mandatory national basket. The right way is not to fight the incremental investment, but to ensure the basic national investment.

And finally: look surprised. Is there a connection between the achievements of the students and the financial investment of the local authority? Comparing financial investment with academic achievements, the quality of the matriculation certificate of graduates, the percentage of participants in youth movement activities, and the percentage of those drafted for significant service proves that success does not depend only on the scope of the city's financial investment. There are cities and towns that star at the top of the achievement table even though they are not at the top of the investors. Education is not just money; education is also committed educational teams that know how to light a fire of curiosity in the eyes and encourage excellence. Education is also personal accompaniment and listening, and healthy parental involvement. In education, money will not answer everything.

Shai Piron, President of the Pnima movement, former Minister of Education.