One thing I fail to understand in the brouhaha of Gideon Saar and the Education Ministry attempting to shorten the summer vacation is why he came under such attack. Saar wanted to change the summer vacation schedule, shortening it by one week, and then adjusting the schedule around the holidays to make up the days of vacation "lost".

I get that the timing was wrong. You cannot make such a major change to the calendar "at the last minute", as people have already made schedules, put out money, and have commitments. It did not seem like the attacks, specifically from other parties and from parent committees were based on that alone, but were attacking the concept in general.

Every year we have to deal with bored kids who have too long of a vacation. It costs a lot of money as multiple camps need to be arranged to keep the kids busy. It is not just keeping the kids busy, but working parents need to have their kids accounted for, as kids get 2.5 months vacation, but the parents still have to work. Summertime has become a very expensive time of the year, probably even more expensive than Pesach!

Saar actually came up with a plan that would shorten the vacation, even if by just a bit, and came under attack.

I hope the problem most people had with Saar is his timing and not the concept of what he was trying to accomplish. Personally I think it was not enough. What does one week change in a summer vacation of 2.5 months? And then they are making it up by giving more vacation later during the holidays - parents work then as well, so it does not really help all that much. I think they should make less vacation days in general, not just move them around, but at least it is a start.