The long-smoldering secondary school crisis in Israel was ended today by the personal intervention of Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion. The issue brought about the resignation of Zalman Aranne as Minister of Education, a resignation which still has not been accepted by the Israel Cabinet.
The controversy began when the high school teachers, contending that their problems were unlike those of the government-supported primary schools, particularly on wage issues, formed an independent organization. The Histadrut-sponsored Teachers Organization reacted with strong opposition.
After weeks of futile discussions, the high school teachers decided on a policy of non-cooperation with Government educational officials and with school superintendents. When Minister Aranne tried to reconcile the dispute, he ran into stiff opposition from Mr. Ben Gurion’s Mapai party, of which he is a member, and later from the Histadrut which opposed any agreement with an “independent” organization, Mr Aranne thereupon submitted his resignation.
The high school teachers accepted the Prime Minister’s personal plea for a truce based on the understanding that any solution would be accepted by all parties without compulsion and that they could retain their independent organization. Pupils left for their Passover vacation without their quarterly report cards which had been withheld by the high school teachers in their non-cooperation campaign.
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