Berlin's Governing Mayor Michael Müller (SPD) wants to save the National Education Council and use the body if necessary without Bayern and Baden-Württemberg.
"The black-green exit from the Education Council is not acceptable," said Mueller the SPIEGEL in view of the announcement of the state governments in Munich and Stuttgart, to withdraw from the negotiations on the Education Council. "I assume that the Education Council, if necessary, even without the two countries, takes up its work and call for cooperation in the interests of the future of our children."
The solidarity of the countries can not be unilaterally canceled, Müller criticized: "To give a clear message to the south, is therefore the task of the other 14 countries and the Federal Government."
Müller's surprising initiative aims to forge a coalition of the willing in the negotiations on the Education Council, thereby realizing one of the key educational projects of the Grand Coalition. The federal and state governments had been struggling for months on the plans that the Union and the SPD had enshrined in the coalition agreement.
At the weekend, Bavaria's Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) declared that he was leaving the project. Baden-Württemberg then moved to.
The Education Council should consist of experts and representatives of the federal and state governments and ensure greater transparency, quality and comparability in education policy, for example in questions of the baccalaureate. The withdrawal of Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg was also a defeat for Federal Education Minister Anja Karliczek (CDU), which had repeatedly made strong for the committee.
Müller attacked the state governments in Munich and Stuttgart. "Good education is the only guarantee of equal opportunities and advancement," he told SPIEGEL. For me, both are central political tasks, but Mr Söder and Mr Kretschmann seem to think that federalism is merely a combination of selfish self-interest. "
The Education Council, with the help of external expertise, should work out proposals on how better educational opportunities can be offered to all children in Germany in the future through better education policies coordinated between the federal states and the federal government. "With the Digital Pact or Good Kita Act we have shown what is possible in cooperation between countries and the federal government and we urgently need to debate the value of federalism for our community."
Whether Müller's initiative has a chance, will also show the reaction of other countries. Above all, the CDU-led countries are forcing their advance now to a clear confession.
While the SPD-led governments fundamentally support the plans for the Education Council, the Union is divided on this issue. Leading CDU education politicians had recently announced that they now prefer to rely on the Conference of Ministers of Education and to tackle small-scale education with their own state treaty.