One in 4 parents of middle and high school students say that mandatory subjects are not being taught in their children’s schools due to a lack of qualified teachers, a survey by the Berl Katznelson Foundation has found. The initial results were presented during a discussion late last month in the Knesset's Special Committee for Youth Affairs on the impact of salary cuts on young educators. Additionally, about 50% of parents with children in elementary schools and 60% of those with children in middle and high schools are aware of shortages in specific subject teachers.
The survey revealed further troubling data on the shortage of qualified educators and homeroom teachers: roughly a quarter of parents with children in elementary and middle schools and around 40% of high school parents said they know of cases where one homeroom teacher is assigned to two or more classes. Around 40% of parents reported that their children frequently have free periods due to the inability to find substitute teachers, a problem particularly acute in high schools, where 55% of parents reported this issue.
Beyond the shortage of staff, the survey also highlights a lack of proper teacher training: about a quarter of all parents are aware of teachers working without official teaching certification. In high schools, this figure rises to a third. According to the Ministry of Education, as of February 2025, nearly 120,000 teachers are employed without teaching certification. This data was included in an expert opinion submitted to the Knesset committee.
The committee also received an opinion from the Arlozorov Forum focusing on the Ministry of Education's budget and class sizes compared to OECD countries. As of 2020, public spending on education in Israel was roughly $5 billion below the OECD average, adjusted for the number of students. Class sizes in Israel are also significantly larger, 25% more students per class in elementary schools and 21% more in middle schools than the OECD average.
During the session, teachers who were involved in recent protests for higher wages shared their experiences. Lior Beshan, a high school teacher from Ra’anana with nine years of experience, said: “I receive messages from thousands of educators saying they won’t stay in the system because they can’t make ends meet. The crisis is real. Education is the most important thing, and it's collapsing.”
Avital Maserman, a history and Bible teacher in Tel Aviv, added: “In my school, there’s truly one homeroom teacher for two classes. Some classes don’t get certain subjects taught. I have 40 students in one class. It’s not just that teaching is impossible, they’re not getting the attention they deserve.”
The committee meeting comes amid weeks of protest from educators against a 3.3% wage cut that began in April and is set to continue until the end of 2026. This cut, stemming from the Public Sector Wage Reduction Law, is meant to help fund the war effort.
The Berl Katznelson Foundation survey was conducted in January 2025 via an online questionnaire of 1,500 parents and students from all sectors of Israeli society. It is part of a broader study by Yaara Mann titled “National Priority Subjects: Rehabilitating and Strengthening Israel’s Social Front,” which has yet to be published.
This article was translated from Hebrew by Matthew Levy.
