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No money for schools in Berlin: education administration imposes budget freeze


Berlin - The outgoing Berlin Senator for Education, Sandra Scheeres (SPD), has imposed an immediate budget freeze on the city's schools. Only expenses "for which there is a claim to payment due to existing legal contractual obligations" are allowed, according to an email that Scheeres sent to Berlin's headmasters on Monday and that is available to Der Tagesspiegel.

All other issues would be discontinued from October 18th to December 15th. Neither the schools nor the House of Representatives had been informed of the move in advance. Many headmasters only saw the news in fragments, some even only on Tuesday.

The reason for the budget freeze came only indirectly from the instructions of the education authority. This had missed a savings target of 47 million by around 20 million euros. There is a threat of a gap of up to 27 million euros. This must now be closed by the spending freeze.

Coalition partner criticizes the education senator's lack of seriousness
Criticism for the unannounced austerity measures also comes from the coalition partner. "That was no surprise for the Scheeres house," said the MP Marianne Brukert-Eulitz (Greens) on Tuesday. That neither the schools nor the parliament were informed beforehand is neither fair nor serious.

The Bundestag member Olaf in der Beek (FDP) called the decision by Senator for Education Scheer "sad". The politician wrote on Twitter that it was once again the youngest who felt mismanagement and mistakes. "Education should be the very last thing that is saved."

Even after December 15, the financing of the Berlin education authority is still unclear. It is unlikely that the next city government will be able to agree on a budget by the end of the year, said a spokesman for the Berlin tax authorities on Tuesday.

"In this case, Article 89 of the Berlin Constitution provides that, in principle, only what is absolutely necessary may be done." A new budget is only expected in the second quarter of 2022.

Source: Junge Freiheit
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