Many schools, kindergartens expected to stay shut amid action by teachers over salary cut

View of an empty classroom at a school in Tel Aviv, during a strike, on May 4, 2025 (Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90)
View of an empty classroom at a school in Tel Aviv, during a strike, on May 4, 2025 (Yehoshua Yosef/Flash90)

Many schools and kindergartens are expected not to open their doors this morning as teaching staff call in sick amid action over surprise salary cuts, despite an agreement last night between the Finance Ministry and the Israel Teachers Union.

The official strike began yesterday morning — some teachers did not report to school until 10 a.m. and others did not report at all, with many schools opting to remain closed for the entire day. According to Channel 12 news, the salary cut does not apply to teachers in Haredi schools.

Multiple reports say that many teachers were unhappy with union leader Yaffa Ben David’s concessions in the negotiations, and were planning to continue to strike, with thousands of teachers calling in sick yesterday ahead of today’s studies.

Channel 12 said tens of thousands more teachers could join the strike today, with many schools announcing that they would close their doors altogether in anticipation that teachers would not report to work.

According to reports, some 25,000 teachers joined the strike yesterday, with the number expected to increase significantly on Monday. Some outlets put the anticipated number of striking teachers at over 50,000.

Several outlets reported that the Education Ministry and Finance Ministry had informed teachers that their “sick days” would not be considered legitimate and thus they would not be entitled to pay for days in which they did not report to work. It was unclear how this could be enforced.

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