Ministers and politicians are often confused by the question: "Who is the customer?".
They become captives of their office officials, who in turn are in deep relationships with vested interests.
The phenomenon is not unique to Israel.
A small group with a distinct interest will be much more powerful than a decentralized group with a less distinct interest.
In economic parlance, this is called the "public choice theory".
A misunderstanding of who the customer is can cause the Minister of Economy, for example, to economically favor the "Nesher" cement plants over the broad interest of families in need of a roof over their heads.
The Minister of Agriculture, for example, may think that his job is not to take care of good and cheap agricultural production for the entire Israeli public, but to take care of a narrow agricultural cartel.
Unfortunately, many times the minister of agriculture is the minister of the agricultural cartels.
The Ministry of Transportation is probably the leading ministry in not identifying the customer - between the demands of the Israel Railways, inefficiency at the airport and complicated tenders by the TAB operators. The passengers, who are the real customers, are treated like cattle transported by truck.
The Ministry of Education is probably the most important ministry in the country, and every morning the Minister of Education does not ask himself "Who is the customer?"
and "What is the product?"
- This is another day when we are losing the battle for education.
So for the avoidance of doubt, the customers of the education system are our children.
Not the teachers' union, not the teachers' organizations, not officials with educational whims and not businessmen.
The approach according to which the education system is a warehouse for children and a conduit for transferring funds from the state treasury to members of the Histadrut and the teachers' organization is wrong.
The answer to the question "What is the product?"
In the education system it is - quality education, which prepares students for good citizenship and a modern labor market.
The product of the education system is not circulars from the CEO or vacations and training for teachers.
Israeli students are ranked low on the PISA scale, and Israeli teachers are ranked low on the job skills scale. The number of students in each class is large, but the ratio of teachers is similar to that in the West. The reasons for this are, among other things, studies six days a week and little attendance in classes. The average teacher salary is similar to this in the West, but in the internal distribution of the salary - we see that most of it goes to veteran teachers who are connected to the Histadrut, at the expense of the young teachers. A system that sees itself as a conduit of money for veteran teachers will never attract young, high-quality teachers, and will not retain them.
In the last salary round, the previous ministers of finance and education, Lieberman and Shasha Biton, saw the office as a money conduit for teachers.
In the generous salary agreements signed in September, not a single word was written about improving the quality of education.
This is what happens when the Minister of Education does not ask herself who the customer is and what the product is.
The new Minister of Education, Yoav Kish, is expected to have a difficult and unrewarding term, and the teachers' organizations are already warming up their engines.
It is difficult for education ministers to be popular.
No one thanks them if the level of education increases, but when teachers oppose any kind of reform - they are accused of strikes and threats.
Still, since there is not much to go down in education and there is a strong and stable coalition, there are several things that will strengthen Israel through education for generations to come:
Beyond five school days will increase the number of teachers per class, and will allow much more education with fewer teachers;
Administrative flexibility will make it possible to remove bad teachers and reward good teachers;
Opening registration areas will give parents choice;
Full budgeting for core studies, even in recognized non-official institutions, will rapidly increase the number of core learners;
The employment of teachers in personal contracts will draw quality teachers into the system;
And a per-pupil budget will take the bureaucratic pressure off the schools.
Minister Kish, you have the opportunity to catapult education forward by two decades in one term.
Do not give up.
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