The Green Party Saarland would have wished for a different setting of priorities from the budget retreat. It is fundamentally commendable that education will have a high priority in the new budget. However, it seems questionable that money is being spent on the entirely rushed implementation of the political prestige project G9, while the districts are left out in the cold when it comes to financing the new mandatory task of "school social work."
“The rushed switch to G9 has already been criticized by the association of philologists. We Greens have proposed a nine-point plan for the transition. This hasty approach by the Minister of Education unsettles students and parents,” warns Green Party chairwoman Uta Sullenberger. Conversely, the districts are now supposed to pay the price for the sensible introduction of school social work as a mandatory task. From the Greens' perspective, it would be more sensible to invest funds from the education budget in this and improve educational equity in Saarland while relieving the districts.
The personnel policy of the state government is also viewed as troubling by the Saar Greens. “The police are being further downsized in terms of staff, while new positions are being created in the ministries,” criticized the chairman Dr. Ralph Nonninger. In his view, it is urgently necessary to conduct a critical review of tasks in all areas. “Police officers must be urgently relieved from administrative work and simple tasks. Although the intermediate police service theoretically still exists in Saarland, it has not been trained in for a long time,” said Dr. Ralph Nonninger.
The Greens Saar completely miss any statements on the energy transition and the strengthening of public transport. “The expansion of the energy transition takes time. To achieve the goals, work would have to start early. Either climate change does not have the announced priority for the state government after all, or the responsible ministries underestimate the magnitude of the self-imposed goals,” summarized Uta Sullenberger. There was also no comment regarding the major announcements to improve public transport.
The Greens Saar view the high investments in structural change positively. "A special fund, which would effectively be a loosening of the debt brake, is understandable given the economic structural situation of Saarland. That could also have been done with us Greens," said Dr. Ralph Nonninger. "What matters now is that these funds are also used purposefully for a genuine structural change towards innovative future industries," said Dr. Ralph Nonninger.
