The Bavarian singing and music schools fear that they will be able to offer fewer music lessons in the future. The reason: lack of funding. “It’s going to be very difficult for the music schools right now,” says Markus Lentz, head of the Grünwald music school and first board member of the state association. In view of the currently ongoing collective bargaining in the public sector, rising personnel costs are expected for music teachers. More money is needed to cover this. Instead, state subsidies threatened to fall. As a result, for example, cooperation with other schools could be lost and with it music offers. “Those would be the first things that would have to be saved,” says Lentz.
In order to express their distress, the 220 singing and music schools in the Free State have meanwhile sent a letter to the Ministry of Finance. In simple terms, the schools are financed by the parents’ tuition fees, municipal contributions and state subsidies – the latter in the form of so-called teaching staff support. According to the letter, around 23 million euros are planned for this in the current draft budget for 2023. However, this is a lower percentage than in the previous year. In order to reach the usual rate of 15 percent, you need an additional million euros. Another two million euros are needed for long-term personnel planning. “Should the state parliament pass the draft budget for 2023 unchanged, the missing amounts would ultimately have to be covered by municipalities and parents.”
The question is whether they can and want to do that. Many families are currently confronted with rising living costs. After years of permanent crisis, local authorities also have to pay more attention to their spending. The music school representatives concede that the required three million euros are not about a lot of money. Nevertheless, the additional funds are particularly important for smaller music schools, for example in order to continue to send their teachers for singing and instrumental lessons to primary schools. Such cooperation could also become more important: from 2026 onwards, families with primary school children have a legal right to all-day care – which in turn should make more school afternoon offers in the sporting, artistic or musical area necessary.
When asked, the Bavarian Ministry of Finance confirms that it has received the letter and forwarded it to the responsible Ministry of Science and Art. The financing of the music schools was also an issue in the budget committee of the state parliament on this Monday afternoon. The factions of the SPD, Greens and FDP submitted the application to increase the funding to a good 27 million euros: Lessons at the singing and music schools should not become a “luxury good”, but “must be affordable for the parents and therefore accessible for the children remain”. However, time is running out for any improvements. The budget is expected to be approved by the end of March.