נאום כתוב : תגמול כספי למורים - בית הספר לדיבור מול קהל

By Morel Mor-Yosef (organizational consultant and teacher) - submitted as part of Speeches and presentations course

"The foundation of every state is the education of its youth" (Greek philosopher Diogenes)

The teaching sector has been suffering for many years from constant erosion and erosion of the teacher's status and salary. In my speeches I will discuss teacher compensation. At the same time, when we come to define the concept of "reward" we must emphasize that things are not supposed to be solely in terms of financial-material reward, but also in the relationship and status that the teacher in Israel is supposed to receive in return for the supreme efforts that are invested on his part, which are sometimes demanding and sometimes demanding and above all laden with debt. Sisyphean work".

In my speech I will mention four reasons for teacher compensation:

A source of income that respects its employees.
Strengthening the status of the teacher as one of the pillars of society in Israel.
Turning the education system into a "magnet" for the talented in society.
Designing and improving the company's future generation.

 The first taste: a source of income that respects its owner

One of the facts of life in society is that if there is bread there is no Torah, that is, the workplace should from the beginning provide the employee with the ability to survive. The salary of a teacher in Israel is one of the lowest salaries in the Israeli economy, this situation forces many teachers to turn to additional side jobs in order to increase their salary and allow them a reasonable living and also increases the rate of attrition of the teacher in the education system.
למותר לציין כי שחיקתו של המורה איננה מתגדרת בד’ אמות ביתו הפרטי כי גם משליכה על איכות ההוראה שלו במסגרת העבודה. יתרה מזאת שכר מורה בישראל לא עולה בקנה אחד עם שכר עובד זר במשק הישראלי שכרם של עובדים זרים הם %87 אחוז משכר המינימום
That is, about 4650 NIS compared to the salary of a teacher with a bachelor's degree and 6 years of experience, which is about 3620 NIS (updated on the salary table from January 1, 2008), and also according to the OECD report, in Israel the starting annual salary of a teacher is 13,257 dollars, while the average salary in other countries The is $27,828 per year. In the United States, the salary is even higher, and the annual starting salary is $34,895

Hence, the lack of an adequate salary for the teacher may result in the teacher's attrition and even the expulsion of the teacher from the education system, either voluntarily or by force.

 The second reason: strengthening the status of the teacher as one of the pillars of society in Israel.

The teacher should be seen as a microcosm or as a reflection of the entire society in which the teacher works on the one hand, and lives on the other hand. The teacher must also be seen through the lens of the macrocosm as one who shapes society and influences it for the future. From this, the teacher's compensation directly affects the "reward" of the entire teaching system and stabilizes the teacher's position in society as a worthy and desirable position. According to a survey by the Ministry of Education 94%, parents are not satisfied with the education system in Israel, according to a report by the "Haaretz" newspaper, according to data from the OECD organization, it was found that the status of teachers in Israel is one of the lowest in developed countries, it is in 27th place out of 28
Hence the change in society's perception of the teacher will give the teacher his rightful status as one of the "life arteries" of the heart of Israeli society

 The third reason: turning the education system into a "magnet" for the talented in society.

This flavor is a derivative of the previous flavors. The education system is supposed to be an "attractive stone" for the "fatness and obesity" of Israeli society. The education system is supposed to be an example and a model, when it serves as a pioneer that stands in front of the camp, and this is first and foremost due to the teachers who rightly and brilliantly carry the torch, the reward for the teacher will be the opening shot for shaping the face of the human composition of the teachers in Israel. When teachers' salaries rise, the teaching profession will become a much more sought-after profession. In this situation, when the demand for teaching will only increase and the system, as a system whose stock value is soaring, will be "forced" both for its own benefit, for the benefit of the students, and for the benefit of the state, to tighten the system of admission conditions to work there, since potential teachers will naturally flow into it at a higher level than the current average.
Hence, in the short term and certainly in the long term, the education system will move towards a better future both for the individual who is educated in it and for society and the country that depends on it. According to a study conducted by the Mackenzie company in 2006-2007 among about 25 education systems around the globe and which was designed to trace the reasons why the best education systems in the world are defined as such while others follow them, it appears, among other things, that "the outstanding education systems in the world prove that the quality of a system Education ultimately depends on the quality of the teachers." Also according to the study: "There is not even one documented example where the school was able to significantly improve the students' track of achievements in the absence of a talented leader." One of the conclusions that emerges: "The quality of the education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers". According to Berliner in his article The Near Impossibility of testing teacher quality according to which it is possible to know if the teachers in the USA are indeed quality teachers and are qualified to teach also by the evidence collected on the students' learning. According to Yossi Wasserman, Secretary General of the Teachers' Union: "The erosion that has been going on for many years in the social and professional status of teachers keeps high-quality people with high contribution potential away from teaching, and drives good teachers out of the system. There is also a decrease in the number of people applying for teaching."
Hence, financial compensation for teachers will lead to a change in the quality of the human landscape in the teaching composition and as a result will affect the education system and society as a whole.

 The fourth taste: designing and improving the company's future generation.

As a result of the selection of the best among our people for teaching who will come to teach due to the reward and after being located in a system of strict filters, we will shape a better generation of students, who will thirstily drink their words, "and educate themselves on their knees" and "struggle in the dirt of their feet". As a paraphrase of the well-known saying: "Tell me who your friends are and I'll tell you who you are" it wouldn't be excessive to say "Tell me who your teacher is and I'll tell you who you are". The student is supposed to develop (beyond the family - home influence) in the image and likeness of the teachers, of course, while adhering to the idea of "how wise is the one who learns from everyone" without, of course, canceling himself and the power of his self-creation.
A striking example of this is former Knesset member Yossi Sharid. Asher joined the education system as a teacher, and now he is being praised by the principal of his school in Sderot according to which: "The students really enjoy his classes. They love him very much." There is no denying that the young are looking for a role model, all that needs to be done is to encourage them to copy their role model from fictional movie characters or other shallow characters from the world of music to the world of the spirit, to the world of education. It is not a simple process, but it is possible and within our reach again, also and perhaps mainly due to the compensation for teachers.

Summary

If so, I stated four reasons for financial compensation for teachers, which are: increasing the source of the teacher's livelihood, raising the status of the teacher and establishing him in society, absorbing quality teachers and improving the future generations. In conclusion, it was said that the education system in general and the teacher sector in particular are in need of a significant upgrade in everything related to their status and the future of the generation of students they are entrusted with. This upgrade will also be achieved through the type of teachers who will be integrated into this system. Quality type. But "to her and to her" in order to attract a maximum of quality people, an adequate financial reward is necessary. As long as this does not help, the cart of the education system will continue to sink and get bogged down in the mud with no chance for a brighter future for both the students, the teachers and the society as a whole, of which the students are the components in the present and certainly in the future to come.