The teacher wins - Successful Teacher Lawsuits: Court Stops Dismissals
Controversial deployments of teaching staff to underserved schools in North Rhine-Westphalia have now been halted by the Administrative Court of Münster in two cases. Emergency applications by a primary school teacher and a high school teacher were successful.
In principle, a deployment could be justified to ensure teaching coverage, the court stated. However, in these specific cases, there were "discretionary errors" in the selection of the teaching staff involved.
The Ministry of Education, however, emphasized: "The possibility of deploying teaching staff for a limited time remains indispensable to ensure fair educational opportunities for all children and young people."
The decisions are not yet legally binding.
From the court's perspective, the Regional Government of Münster should have made a decision based on uniform criteria among all primary school teachers active in the Münsterland region, provided their current school could function with the deployment. The defendant authority did not meet this requirement.
"The request to the respective school management to name the persons to be deployed should not have been made to enable a selection decision based on uniform criteria," the court criticized. The partially used lottery procedure was "already not a suitable selection criterion." Similar criticism applies to the successful lawsuit by the high school teacher.
Minister of Education Dorothee Feller (CDU) presented a comprehensive action plan against teacher shortages and teaching absences at the end of 2022, including expanded possibilities for temporarily deploying teaching staff to underserved schools. Teacher unions have rejected this from the beginning as a demotivating coercive measure.
The court's decision to halt the deployment of teaching staff in North Rhine-Westphalia highlights the importance of fair employment practices, ensuring that teachers are assigned based on uniform criteria. The Ministry of Education emphasizes the necessity of employment opportunities for teachers to provide equal educational opportunities for all students.
