What happens when Bnei Brak and Tel Aviv lead an extraordinary collaboration to get students back into the education system?
At the end of the second lockdown, the government announced that bringing first and second graders back to school, for half the school week only, would entail five weeks of preparation and billions of shekels worth of spending. But two Network members decided that after months of having their children sitting at home, there was no time to waste – nor was there any need for such an expense.
Shirley Rimon-Bracha, Head of the Education Administration in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality, and Arik Adler, Treasurer of the Bnei Brak Municipality and Director of the city’s COVID-19 Situation Room, persuaded their respective mayors to appeal to the government.
And in an unprecedented move, the Mayors of Tel Aviv and Bnei Brak turned to the government together and issued an urgent call to give schools the authority to reopen in a flexible format, in accordance with health guidelines. The main goal was to help get the children off their computers and phones and bring them back out into the world, in an effort to prevent potential mental health problems and social issues resulting from 10 months with almost no face-to-face learning.
In a joint interview, Rimon-Bracha and Adler talked about the initiative that has managed to unite two such different cities. As Shirley said, “If Tel Aviv and Bnei Brak can work together, then the Ministry of Education can find common ground with teachers’ organizations.”
Following the letter from the Mayors, other local authorities expressed support for the initiative, and it was adopted. First and second graders went back to school a short time later, for the full school week, in line with the format proposed by the municipalities of Bnei Brak and Tel Aviv.