By Daniel Weinmann
The shortage of teachers, to use the best gender parlance, continues to worsen. Thousands of jobs are unfilled – and there is a shortage of qualified applicants. According to forecasts by the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany, the number of schoolchildren in Germany will rise more sharply in the coming years than previously expected. According to its annually updated projections, presented by the KMK on September 20, it expects the number to rise from 11 million today to 12 million by 2035. That is 300,000 more than in the forecast a year ago.
In Berlin alone, where there is a shortage of 1,500 teachers, two-thirds of the newly hired teachers did not have a regular teaching degree, according to the GEW. To alleviate the staff shortage, the Senate is advertising not only bonuses and lateral and lateral hires, but also the possibility of being taken on as a civil servant. “We civil servant“The Senate Department for Education, Youth and Family Affairs has taken up the cause.
It is in the interest of the entire school community, parents, teachers and students, business and trade unions, to keep as many teachers as possible in Berlin’s schools and to create attractive conditions for them. “That’s why Berlin is returning to tenured teachers after 18 years,” the Senate administration said.
Permanently more net from gross - but only with the right body size
The Teacher Retirement Act went into effect in February. On this basis, existing teachers may be tenured until December 31, 2026. Recruitment to a civil service position is by application. CDU Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch, meanwhile, went after teachers with slogans such as “permanently more net from the gross than salaried employees”, “appointment for life as well as pension instead of statutory pension”.
What sounds like a “gmahde Wiesn”, however, turns out in some cases to be a literal belly landing, as a young woman describes to the “Berliner Zeitung“. The 36-year-old, who actually wanted to become a doctor but just missed the required grade point average, followed the lure of the high school office. “Congratulations, all new teachers get pay grade 5, the highest, right out of the gate,” was the seductive message during the first semester of study. Even applicants without a high school diploma were admitted.
She chose a teaching institution with a high percentage of children “of non-German origin.” A friend raved about the college. In the master’s program, she received a final grade of 1.1, and she passed the state exam with a 1.0. So the best conditions for the married mother of two children.
Five pages of investigation results
It could have been so nice, because all she has to do to perfect her professional luck is pass the obligatory medical examination. But this turns out to be a humiliating disaster. She has to strip down to her underwear, her body is measured and inspected.
She must touch the nose with her eyes closed and the floor with her hand with her knees stretched out. Ears, eyes and reflexes are tested, blood pressure, pulse, waist circumference are circled. Also subject to examination are nutritional status, physique, posture, musculature, gait, facial color, condition of teeth, respiratory organs, and upper and lower extremities.
The results span five pages. Only two values stand out: her weight and her blood pressure. The young woman is sure that she will soon be able to swear the oath of office. But the state Department of Health and Human Services sees “health concerns” – and a variety of illnesses. Reason: your body mass index is too high.
Lawsuit against the refusal of tenure
Because of her weight, she does not receive the coveted civil servant status. “This is a very bitter experience,” the young woman clamors. She said she was tired of feeling like she was doing more than others, but not being appreciated for it because of her weight. Instead of permanently higher net wages and higher retirement benefits, she now has to either slim down or bake smaller rolls in the future – which could ultimately lead to the body mass index demanded by the Berlin Senate after all.
But she does not want to endure this humiliation. In the meantime, she filed a lawsuit against the denial of tenure and let her principal know that he would not have to consider her for the next school year. She is fed up with the Berlin bureaucrats. It also has a new offering – in Brandenburg.
Under fire – but all the more important is your support!
“Conspiracy ideologue,” “Nazi” or “right-wing agitator”: as a critical journalist today, you have to constantly have dirt thrown at you. The public broadcasters are particularly active in this area. ARD’s chief fact-finder Gensing already sued me in 2019, and the Böhmermann broadcaster ZDF recently slandered me as a “propagator of conspiracy narratives” – without naming a single piece of evidence, and in a post full of lies. Springer journalist Gabor Steingardt slandered me in “Focus,” for which I worked for 16 years, as a “member of an army of tin soldiers” and a “media fighting machine” of the AfD. On the initiative of “Westdeutscher Rundfunk,” I was even put on the wanted list. If one defends oneself legally, one usually has to bear the costs oneself. Your support is all the more important. Also morally. It spurs you on to keep going and not give up. Thank you very much for making my work possible with your contribution – without compulsory fees and tax money.
Currently (again) donations via credit card, Apple Pay etc. are possible – despite the Paypal block: via this link. Alternatively via bank transfer, IBAN: DE30 6805 1207 0000 3701 71. For those who have little themselves, I expressly ask you to keep what little you have. I am all the more pleased to receive support from all those whom it does not hurt.
My current video
SPD leader Esken after election disaster on Anne Will: terminal loss of reality. AfD must stay outside
Contributions marked by name always reflect the opinion of the author, not mine. I value my readers as adults and want to offer them different points of view so they can form their own opinions.
Daniel Weinmann worked for many years as an editor for one of the best-known German media. He writes here under a pseudonym.
Image: Shutterstockmore from Daniel Weinmann on reitschuster.de
