What happened to "The People of the Book"? The data that the elections managed to hide
Nachman Shai, Ph.D., David Ellenson Dean, Taube Family Campus in Jerusalem
In his op-ed for Maariv, Dean Shai argues that while Israelis were focused on election politics, newly released PISA and Meitzav test results revealed a far more troubling story: Israel’s education system has fallen to the bottom ranks of the OECD in key subjects such as math, reading, and science. The problem is not a lack of funding, since education receives one of the largest government budgets, he says, but rather a severe shortage of well-trained teachers and misplaced priorities that have neglected core academic subjects. He warns that Israel’s future strength, innovation, and national character depend on rebuilding educational excellence and investing in teachers, arguing that a strong society requires both security and a highly educated population.