Is There a Shortage of Teachers

The necessary decisions on action policies need to be based on reliable up-to-date data regarding the demand for teachers, the potential supply as well as the conditions and steps available to policy makers to influence the supply and demand. This paper examines the components of the supply and demand in Israel, relates to the question of whether there is currently a shortage of teachers and throws some light on solutions for specific cases of teacher shortages after establishing that the shortage is not, in fact, acute. The paper outlines recommendations for policy in two central directions: one, focusing the efforts to use the resources that are allocated to the system more efficiently; and two, innovative and creative incentives for currently employed teachers to increase their work load.

In Hebrew