Ganztagsbetreuung an der Carl-Orff-Grundschule

We don't want to be second class educators! The Berlin Senate wants to start paying its employees the controversial capital city allowance from November. There is resistance to this, and the Schöneberg neighborhood home demands equal treatment for all skilled workers. Children from the Riemenschneiderweg day care center Children from the Riemenschneiderweg day care center. Photo: Georg Farys For civil servants and state employees, the so-called capital city allowance is to be paid from November 2020 . For example, educators in the daycare centers are to receive 150 euros more per month through the capital city allowance. The employees of the independent organizations, however, should go away empty-handed and not benefit from the Senate grant, even though the welfare organizations provide around 79 percent of the daycare places in Berlin. The Schöneberg neighborhood home with more than 1000 employees criticizes the unequal treatment by the Senate and demands that the work of educators - regardless of the employer - be equally recognized and valued. The capital must not become a two-tier system with “favorite educators”. Special bonus makes it appear that the value of the work is not the same “The payment of the capital city allowance will put us at a significant disadvantage when looking for new skilled workers,” says Karin Höhne, manager of the Schöneberg neighborhood home. With the controversial capital city allowance, the wage gap will worsen - in addition to daycare specialists, specialists in all-day care and in many other areas are also affected. “It will be difficult to remain attractive as an employer if the government makes its own staff better,” says Karin Höhne. The bonus for employees of the state creates the impression that the value of the work of the educators in Berlin is not the same, says Dagmar Kürschner, division manager for day care centers in the Schöneberg neighborhood home. "That is annoying, because our specialists do their full commitment every day." For the employees, the decision of the Senate is incomprehensible, the special bonus leads to a high level of dissatisfaction. "We miss a comprehensible reason why the capital city allowance should only be paid to employees of the state of Berlin." The Schöneberg neighborhood home currently operates 25 daycare centers and is responsible for all-day care at 13 elementary and secondary schools. Almost 400 educators in the daycare centers as well as around 250 specialists in all-day care of the provider are responsible for the education and care of a total of around 4,300 children and young people. The facilities are located in the southwest of Berlin, in the districts of Tempelhof-Schöneberg, Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf and Steglitz-Zehlendorf. Around 60 prospective specialists are currently being trained in the Schöneberg neighborhood home. The staff regularly take part in training courses. Those who create daycare places also need motivated specialists In order to offer more daycare places for Berlin children, the Schöneberg neighborhood home has been investing in expanding its facilities and building new day-care centers for years. It is above all the independent organizations that create new daycare places in the capital. They are also the ones who predominantly take on the training of future skilled workers in Berlin. The recently published day care center development plan by Youth Senator Sandra Scheeres (SPD) provides for the creation of 26,000 day care places by 2026. "The payment of a special bonus only for employees of the state is diametrically opposed to our commitment in the area of ​​daycare expansion," said the managing director. Because those who create new daycare places also need motivated, qualified staff in order to successfully implement the educational mandate. But that does not work if the Senate distorts the competition for skilled workers through the capital city allowance and lures the freshly trained staff away from the independent organizations with higher pay.