There were no classes today for nearly 400,000 high school students as teachers went on strike to support demands for a wage increase. The high school teachers rejected an appeal by Education Minister Zevulun Hammer to postpone their action for ten days. But elementary and kindergarten teachers complied, creating a split in teacher ranks.
Hammer said he needed the time to bring the teachers’ demands before the Cabinet for discussion. The teachers insist on a wage hike ten percent greater than paid to other government employees. Meanwhile, the Education Ministry is trying to find some sort of occupation for the idle students. Arrangements were made to send some to work at kibbutzim for the duration of the strike and others to new immigrant townships and army storage depots.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
