Back to school: How are Jerusalem teachers faring the new academic year?

School is back in session, but classes are under a dark cloud.

Aside from teacher strikes and the crisis with Jerusalem’s after-school program system, the school year already got off to a somber start with the confirmation of the murder of six hostages in Gaza by Hamas. 

Education workers have had difficult experiences, as many grapple with an already stressful job at a time when many children are dealing with the trauma of war. 

Teaching amid the trauma of war

“Before September 1, I was very excited about the start of the school year because I really love teaching,” noted English teacher Alana Palatnik. “But it became very hard with the death of the six hostages. I don’t know [the students] well enough to ask how they’re doing. I couldn’t check on everyone’s feelings.”

Palatnik works at several schools, teaching middle- and high schoolers, as well as at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It’s the only way for her to make a livable wage as a teacher. 

“No teacher can get a full-time job,” she observed, noting that she often teaches at new schools every year. As a result, she has a new crop of students whom she needs to get to know. 

In addition, working during the war has taken its toll on her. “I actually cried in front of my students last year,” she recalled. “I don’t even have any close friends who are on the front lines, but it really affects everyone.”

That extends to the students, too. “I have had students who have parents called up to reserves. Now we have single moms raising kids and working.”

Palatnik isn’t alone, as teachers across the educational spectrum are dealing with students impacted by the war.

Esti Wexler, a special education teacher at a school for students with emotional issues, described how the war has affected her pupils. “Behavioral issues have become a lot more apparent during the war,” she told In Jerusalem, explaining how a lot of stability was disrupted.

“We had a lot of teachers, especially male teachers, who were called up for the reserves and left for very long periods. That definitely affected the students,” she said. “Our students generally lack stability in their lives. When their teacher is gone for such a long time, it can really affect them.”

Tuni Cohen, a veteran worker at a haredi nursery in the city, discussed how her preschool has adjusted to a country at war.

“We don’t always know what’s going on,” she said. “We sometimes take the kids out to the park but couldn’t do that in the early days of the war, so we’d stay inside a little more often.”

Another crisis developed this year when after-school programs were abruptly canceled without notice, forcing school days for younger children to end two hours early and depriving the youngsters of lunch.

Other teachers are disgruntled over other issues related to their conditions and salaries. At the start of the year, high school teachers went on strike, protesting a freeze on their salaries because of Finance Ministry budget cuts related to the war. However, their union announced that despite no deal having been reached, the teachers would be returning to work for the sake of the children. 

But despite all of the emotional and practical pressures, teachers themselves still have to buckle down and manage their lesson plans as normal. 

“War doesn’t change anything because students still have to learn and study,” Palatnik said. “There’s nothing I can really do that changes things.”■