In the fight against the shortage of teachers in Germany, Federal Education Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger proposes creating more performance incentives for teachers. “It must be more worthwhile to work for the chances and future of our children”, said the FDP politician picture-Newspaper. “That would also make the profession more attractive for young people and career changers and thus combat the shortage of teachers.” The “many motivated and dedicated teachers” need “not only more recognition, but also more performance-based payment,” says Stark-Watzinger.
The minister did not become more specific – which can be seen as an attempt to initiate a debate without taking the verbal transgression too far. The federal states are responsible for education policy. In the summer of 2021, however, Stark-Watzinger did not have to worry about such federal sensitivities. She presented herself with the then opposition FDP parliamentary group in the Bundestag a proposal, who called, among other things, for “opening up new career opportunities for teachers”, for example by dividing headmaster positions into two. In addition, “performance and commitment should be taken into account when paying teachers, instead of just years of service”; Performance bonuses should also be used to a greater extent.
The shortage of staff in schools has been increasing for years. Heinz-Peter Meidinger, President of the German Teachers’ Association, estimated the number of vacant teaching positions at the beginning of the school year at 30,000 to 40,000. Politicians are trying to counteract this in various ways. Teachers in all federal states are now becoming civil servants again, and many states have also increased salaries at primary schools, for example. These measures will not remedy the situation in the short term, but in the long term they should make the profession more attractive to young people.
“Nose bonuses don’t solve the problem of a shortage of teachers!” writes the GEW
This would also apply to new performance incentives. Not only Stark-Watzinger, but also Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education at the OECD, thinks that there is not enough of this in the German education system. When presenting the “Education at a Glance” study at the beginning of October, he criticized the fact that neither qualifications nor performance had a significant impact on teachers’ salaries in Germany. The result is a lack of opportunities for advancement and thus of motivation. Many federal states provide for performance incentives such as bonuses and allowances in civil service law, but according to teacher associations only a few also provide money for them – like Bavaria. According to the Ministry of Education, 5.5 million euros are available there for performance bonuses in the current year.
“What we know so far about the performance bonus is that the pots are narrow, the process is complex and the whole thing is therefore not very effective,” says Udo Beckmann, chairman of the VBE education union. The proposal shows “the complete helplessness of politics”. Maike Finnern, chairwoman of the Education and Science Union (GEW), wrote on Twitter: “Nose bonuses do not solve the problem of a shortage of teachers!” In order to attract more young people to the profession again, the countries would have to “create good working conditions in schools”.
Teachers’ Association President Meidinger, on the other hand, would welcome more performance incentives. Even smaller bonuses as recognition would have a “high emotional value” for teachers, he says. There are no opportunities for promotion in many federal states: “Many teachers end their careers in the same salary bracket in which they started.” Meidinger concedes that there are “subjective elements” in the question of how to measure teacher performance and that any evaluation “stands and falls with the qualifications of the school management”. But Meidinger is convinced that lessons can be evaluated – for example by looking at the performance of a class over a longer period of time or the grades in the Abitur.