[etni] Report of meeting with Ran Erez of 20 July
- From: Renee Wahl <renew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 21 Jul 2009 16:57:52 +0300
Dear ETNI Members,
For all those of you who requested updates on the meeting that took place with
Ran Erez on Monday, 20 July, here it is:
1) The meeting took place as scheduled and Mr. Erez apologized for the
misunderstanding on the part of Nurit Valencie which resulted in her absence
from the previously scheduled meeting.
2) Mr. Erez explained that the Irgun has 3 topics directly connected to
Engish that are on the Irgun's prime target list:
a) The 2% per module Bagrut Gmul has been achieved.
b) The issue of the projects
c) The issue of the literature program
3) A meeting was scheduled for today between Dr. Shimon Shoshani and
all the
chief inspectors (English included), regarding all the new
programs (Civics,
Hebrew language, Math, etc.) so that Dr. Shoshani can get a broad
view of
what the changes and additions involve. Dr. Shoshani and Mr.
Erez are to
meet after this meeting and Mr. Erez promised to report to us
(via phone) as to the outcome of their meeting. He believes that
Dr. Shoshani
seriously wants to avoid a confrontation at the beginning of the
school year
and will work in good faith to clrify the situation that was left
him by the
previous Ministry Director. We will let you know how this meeting
goes as
soon as we are informed.
4) Both Mr. Erez and the Irgun are aware of the issues and the
increasing
amounts of work that are being asked of us. In fact, he has been
meeting
throughout the year with a group of teachers from the T.A. area who
have
placed these issues before him and followed them up. As you can see
from the
letter he sent to Dr. Judy Steiner, he urges the teachers to follow
the Irgun
instructions and not to participate in the lit courses, not to do
projects with the pupils,
not to implement the new lit program until the issues are resolved.
Mr. Erez
emphasized that the Irgun is only as strong as its members and can
achieve
change only if the teachers uphold the sanctions.
5) We emphasized that the English teachers feel that we are being asked
to carry
out sanctions without enough backing from the Irgun. For example,
not doing
projects, but getting conflicting instructions from the Irgun reps
about what will
happen in the student' oral Bagrut as a result.
6) We also discussed the testing of LD pupils ? an issue that was supposed to
have been resolved with the signed agreement from Jan 2009 requiring the
schools to pay the teachers for EACH and every activity related to this
work,
retro-actively from September 2008. Please read the wording of this
agreement which you can find at:
http://cms.education.gov.il/EducationCMS/Units/Sherut/Chozrim/ChozreiSt/hozertashsat4_heskem_im_irdunhamorim.htm
Mr. Erez claims that teachers who work for the Ministry or the local
authorities ARE receiving this payment (if they have reported the work), but
was shocked to hear that the ORT, AMIT and other sectors have not followed
through even to the extent of providing a suitable form for the teachers to
fill out. We were present during his extended phone conversation with Mr. Dan
Shaked, who is responsible for this state of affairs in ORT, his 'reminder' to
him that he is not carrying out the agreement and his insistence that the issue
be dealt with immediately. Mr. Erez also promised to contact the responsible
parties in the AMIT and OR TORAH sectors. We will have to follow up to make
sure things are carried through, so please phone or fax the Irgun if your
school is not providing you with suitable forms to fill out and submitting
these forms for payment (and of course if you have not been paid).
7) We heard from Mr. Erez of some creative options that the Irgun is
working on to push for the additional payments that the teachers (English &
others) should be getting for all the extra work that has been added to our
load over the past several years (the modular Bagrut, projects, extensive
reading, lit courses, lit program, oral exam matkonet, etc.) For a change,
these will not involve sanctions/strike of the entire system, but should prove
to be more effective.
8) In conclusion, after this meeting we feel that the Irgun understands
the current problems of the English teachers and will continue to take the
necessary steps to resolve them. We will continue to be in touch with Mr.
Erez as needed.
The Committee
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