A walkout by 23,000 high school teachers Sunday threw Israel’s education system into shambles but won the solidarity of college professors and got some responsive action from the Cabinet.
The teachers, members of the Federation of Secondary School Teachers, one of two high school teachers unions in Israel, called a two-day work stoppage to protest the erosion of their salaries. About 600 schools were affected.
The teachers were supported by professors and instructors at Israel’s seven major universities, who canceled lectures in sympathy.
The Cabinet authorized Education Minister Zevulun Hammer to investigate the wage erosion experienced by teachers since 1989. But the striking teachers insist that the investigation go back at least seven years. They admit their paychecks have remained fairly stable over the past two years but slipped badly before then.
Thousands of students were in a quandary, meanwhile, trying to find out to which of the rival unions their teachers belonged in order to know whether or not they would have classes.
Final examinations and college entrance exams scheduled for next week could be affected if the teachers decide to stage another walkout. Education Minister Hammer warned angrily that he would hire strikebreakers from outside the tenured ranks to monitor the tests if necessary.
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