Ministries of Finance and Education in negotiations on a multi-year plan to implement special education reform

The Ministries of Finance and Education are formulating a multi-year plan for the education budget, Minister of Education Yoav Kisch said today (Thursday) during a discussion in the Education Committee. The plan is intended to implement the conclusions of the Shapiro Committee to solve the problem of special education. Since the negotiations are between the professional teams of the ministries, there is a possibility that despite the elections, it will have continuity if the next Ministers of Education and Finance show interest.

The special education budget has grown in recent years by about 2 billion shekels per year and has become a strategic economic problem. When he took office, Kisch appointed a committee headed by former El Al CEO Amos Shapiro to solve the problem. Shapiro gathered 170 experts and organization representatives for the committee to create as broad a consensus as possible around the conclusions. His committee concluded that the only way to solve the problem is to make inclusive education much more comprehensive.

To this end, it recommended:

1. Reducing class sizes from more than 30 students on average today to 19, and using the large surplus of teaching hours in the Israeli education system for this purpose without adding teachers.

2. Providing all teachers with training in inclusive education.

3. Investing much more resources in kindergartens so that problems are identified and treated much earlier.

The cost of the recommendations was a one-time investment of 14 billion shekels, mainly for classroom construction, and an addition of 1.5 billion shekels per year, mainly for additional kindergarten teachers. The committee argues that the savings resulting from this will be much greater. The conclusions also require reaching new collective agreements with teachers' unions, which is also expected to cost large sums. The Ministry of Finance opposed the conclusions, arguing that there is no proof that the large investment will stop the huge growth in special education. Kisch postponed implementation until 2027, effectively passing the problem to the next minister.

In the discussion held today at the Knesset Education Committee meeting on the opening of the school year, Kisch reported that negotiations are underway with the Ministry of Finance regarding a "New Deal" — a multi-year plan for the education budget that will cap budget additions and thus allow for the implementation of the Shapiro Committee's conclusions. Ministry Director General Meir Shimoni said the intention is for implementation to begin in the 2027/2028 school year, i.e., in a year. Among the principles of the plan, according to Shimoni: reducing the number of students per class, building additional classrooms, training teachers to teach special education children, and reducing teaching hours.

At the beginning of the discussion, a storm broke out when Kisch said: "The school year will open as planned. There is no fear of problems with the teachers' unions, no disruptions are expected. A great achievement." In response, representatives of the "Manhigim" directors' organization, which represents about two thousand directors, shouted: "You are an out-of-touch Minister of Education, school principals have been trying to talk to you for months." The CEO of "Manhigim", Gil Moshkovich, was removed from the discussion. In recent weeks, "Manhigim" members have boycotted the school year opening conferences due to a series of ministry decisions, including the cuts to special education budgets. "You intimidated the directors and threatened them," they claimed.

Kisch claimed the conferences were full. He surprised with firm support for the professional union, saying: "The representative organizations of the directors by law are the teachers' unions. I am not breaking the law." Regarding the shortage of teachers, Kisch said: "Every year when summer arrives, between 5,000 and 7,000 teachers retire. Next year there will also be a shortage of 7,000. The question is whether we are hiring quality teachers with academic degrees." According to him, 70% of the shortage is in the central regions and Tel Aviv due to the cost of living, which makes it difficult for teachers to live there.