Kutschaty wants to equalize teachers' salaries if he wins the election

Created: 01/08/2022, 09:58 AM

SPD country chief Thomas Kutschaty gives an interview in his office.

© Rolf Vennenbernd / dpa / archive image

In May, SPD state chief Kutschaty wants to replace NRW Prime Minister Wüst.

The opposition leader has already made a commitment: He wants to quickly ensure fair teachers' salaries and unleash wind power in North Rhine-Westphalia again.

Düsseldorf - In the event of a government takeover after the North Rhine-Westphalian state election in May, the top SPD candidate Thomas Kutschaty wants to quickly ensure fairer salaries for teachers. From the school year beginning in 2023, the starting salary A 13 should apply to everyone under an SPD-led state government, said the head of the state party and parliamentary group of the German Press Agency in Düsseldorf.

"I consider that to be a requirement of justice," said the former NRW Minister of Justice. "That is necessary, but also affordable," emphasized Kutschaty. "Today I can no longer explain to anyone that a teacher at a grammar school has to earn more than at the other schools." Especially after the training had been adjusted. “That's why the starting salary for all teachers has to be the same.” The opposition leader, who had already signaled that he could not only imagine a coalition of the SPD and the Greens, but also a traffic light with the FDP, said: “For us it is very important that it is included in a coalition agreement. "

So far, teachers at elementary, secondary, secondary, comprehensive and special schools in North Rhine-Westphalia have been paid less than teachers at the upper level, who earn around EUR 500 gross per month with A 13.

"For me, teachers are real heroes today when I see what they have to do," said Kutschaty.

Among other things, you would have to be relieved of administrative tasks.

He also promised to tear down hurdles in the expansion of wind power that the black and yellow state government had built up. "We will abolish the blanket distance regulation," he announced in the event that he can replace Hendrik Wüst (CDU) after the election as Prime Minister. “It can't be that I can live 400 meters from a coal-fired power station, but have to be one kilometer away from a wind turbine. That is nonsensical. ”Three times the system height is sufficient and will be introduced as a minimum distance to residential development in the event of an election victory in North Rhine-Westphalia.

The SPD federal vice-president called on the state government to take more initiative to phase out coal-fired power generation by 2030, if possible.

The federal government will take care of the social security of coal workers through a new regulation of the adjustment allowance, said Kutschaty.

The state is required, however, that structural aid and measures for the affected regions come more quickly.

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“What is happening in the Ruhr area and in the Rhenish Revier?” Asked Kutschaty.

“A new cycle path, a new mining museum or a lignite lake that will be renatured in ten years is not the structural change that I envision.” Now the state government must set out to look for investors, financially To set incentives to develop industrial areas, to work together with the local authorities to ensure that new jobs are created there - “in the industrial sector”.

In the state elections on May 15, he wanted to stand for four main topics: fairness in education, secure jobs in times of change, affordable housing and a good health system.

Considerable investments are required, particularly in the education and health sectors.

The energy transition, on the other hand, does not have to cost the state a lot of money.

“There is so much money that needs to be invested - in wind parks, in solar parks,” said Kutschaty.

He wanted to set up a project in which municipalities and citizens could also participate financially.

"This also increases the acceptance of the location if I am a co-owner of such a system in my own community."

He sees the money for the other political priorities as infrastructure investments.

"They have to be done now - on the one hand, because the demand is extremely high, on the other hand, money is now more cheap for the state than ever before."

When investing in additional teachers and better equipping schools, the added value is not always apparent immediately.

"But if we have well-educated children in a few years, then that is the highest return a state can have." Tearing children from disadvantaged neighborhoods out of the spiral of poverty also saves costs in the long term - for example for unemployment benefits.

"I would also be willing to take out loans if necessary to finance these important investments in the education and health system," said Kutschaty.

"It doesn't help at all if, in 20 years' time, I tell children born today: You may not have graduated from school and your environment is broken, but our household is balanced." Dpa