Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - The North Rhine-Westphalian state government has legally initiated the gradual harmonization of the starting salary for all teachers. The cabinet decided to initiate the association hearing on the draft law. "With the salary adjustment, we are upgrading the teaching profession and making it significantly more attractive, especially in primary school, but also in the area of secondary level I," said School Minister Dorothee Feller (CDU) on Wednesday. "This should help us in the future to attract more young people to these types of school."
The black-green state government had made initial funds available for the adjustment of teacher salaries in the draft for the 2022 supplementary budget. "Despite the ongoing crises and the associated immense financial burden on the state budget, the state government is implementing a central project," said Finance Minister Marcus Optendrenk (CDU).
Teachers at primary level and secondary level I are to be transferred to salary group A 13 in five steps by 2026. With retrospective effect from November 1st, they will initially receive an allowance of EUR 115, which will be paid out at the beginning of next year. This allowance increases annually on August 1 by 115 euros, so that from August 2025 a total plus of 460 euros will be achieved.
This adjustment will cost the country almost 900 million euros by 2026. This is intended to close the earnings gap that still exists between primary school and high school teachers, for example, even though the training standards have long since been standardized.
