10,000 shekels less per student: the number that tells the story of education in Israel | Matan Katzman

An opinion piece by Matan Katzman, head of a local council and reserve battalion commander, arguing that Israel needs a long-term national strategy for education. The article calls for equality in budgets between educational streams, defining a shared Israeli core curriculum, and education for shared responsibility as a basis for equality in the burden.

An opinion piece by Matan Katzman, head of a local council and reserve battalion commander, asserts that Israel's future is decided by education budgets, the values taught, and the classrooms where the next generation grows up. The article argues that the education system operates from budget to budget and crisis to crisis instead of with a long-term vision. Katzman calls for increasing investment in state education and ensuring equality in budgets between streams, emphasizing that "a child is a child." Alongside budgetary equality, the article highlights the need for a shared Israeli value-based core curriculum, ensuring that in 20 years, Israel's children can live together, make decisions together, and defend the country together. The article links education to the question of equality in the burden, arguing that partnership begins in the classroom, not at the recruitment office. Katzman draws on his experience as a reserve battalion commander to emphasize the need for long-term force building and investing today in capabilities that will be needed tomorrow.