Israel's Finance Ministry is drawing up a plan to transfer responsibility for more than 21,000 preschools for children ages 3 to 6 and some 5,600 elementary schools from the Education Ministry to the local, municipal authorities. The move would effectively dismantle the Education Ministry in its current form. Some 200,000 teaching staff would no longer be employed by the state, instead becoming employees of local authorities, other organizations and education networks.
Under the plan, local authorities would assume responsibility for operating schools and preschools, while the Education Ministry would focus primarily on funding, measuring academic achievement and regulation. The proposal, described as a renewal plan for the education system, was published in Israel Hayom. It takes into account the possibility that the Teachers Union could respond with a three-month strike.
The plan was presented to the Knesset last month by Alenu, known as "The Founding Grandchildren," an organization advocating sweeping reforms to Israel's governing institutions. It calls for breaking up the Education Ministry's monopoly in light of what its authors describe as the ministry's repeated failures in recent years. Former Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also addressed the issue in his education platform. Its first section, titled "Urban Renewal for the Education Ministry Bureaucracy," states: "We are shutting down the education system of 1948 and opening the education system of 2026. This is how we will give teachers and principals greater autonomy, flexibility and trust."
The Finance Ministry is now also developing an education reform centered on reducing the size and power of the Education Ministry's headquarters and transferring full responsibility for operating preschools and schools to local authorities. The proposal is intended to reduce the ministry's excessive centralization.
The Education Ministry's annual budget stands at 100 billion shekels, approximately $32 billion, but the results remain poor. The system continues to deteriorate both academically, as reflected in international assessments, and in terms of the school environment, including violence against teaching staff and a failure to address students' emotional difficulties.
The Finance Ministry has also been promoting a transition to a five-day school week for several years. The change would completely eliminate Friday classes in preschools and schools. The issue is complicated, however, and would have to be resolved through negotiations with the Teachers Union. The union is demanding that teachers retain an additional day off during the week, meaning they would work only four days rather than the five they currently work.
The Finance Ministry said in response: "The Finance Ministry is working to improve public services and the functioning of government across a wide range of areas. Ideas and initiatives concerning the education system are also being considered as part of these efforts. Once a final plan has been formulated, it will be presented to policymakers."
