Magdeburg (dpa/sa) - The SPD parliamentary group in the black-red-yellow coalition wants to continue talking about better pay for primary school teachers in Saxony-Anhalt. A tariff classification of teachers in salary brackets A13 and E13 is "correct and not off the table," said the parliamentary group on Twitter on Friday. "We will set out together as a coalition," it said.
This week the topic was discussed in the state parliament. Several actors then complained that the coalition of CDU, SPD and FDP had not passed a resolution on better pay. The state chair of the primary school association, Thekla Mayerhofer, said on Friday that this decision was "neither understandable nor sustainable". An education that should not cost anything is worthless. "Primary schools must be well equipped in terms of space, equipment, digital technology and staff, and no money should be too much for that."
According to the Education and Science Union (GEW), in Saxony, Thuringia, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Berlin, as well as in Bremen, Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, primary school teachers are paid according to pay grades A13 and E13. The GEW sees this as a reason for the emigration of skilled workers. Saxony-Anhalt's Minister of Education, Eva Feußner (CDU), has also spoken out in favor of better pay for primary school teachers.
According to estimates in the coalition, upgrading the educators would cost the country an additional two-digit million amount per year. On Friday, however, the SPD parliamentary group left open whether black, red and yellow will clear up the topic during the upcoming deliberations on the 2023 budget in the state parliament. In response to a request to this effect, a spokesman said that the coalition was "always looking for dialogue" on this matter.
