School cancellation in Bremen: Parents criticize staff meeting!

School cancellation in Bremen: Parents criticize staff meeting!

On September 3, 2025, Bremen's educational landscape will be turned upside down. From 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., staff meetings for all employees of schools, mobile services and regional advice and support centers (ReBUZ) will take place in Hall 7 at Bremer Bürgerweide. The meeting addressed controversial points such as the controversial 41-hour week for teachers, possible target hour cuts and the abolition of age reductions, which have caused many school management and teachers to be upset. Some schools in Bremen have already canceled classes due to this meeting, which is causing great inconvenience for many parents and students.

The Bremen Central Parents' Advisory Board (ZEB) expresses sharp criticism of the school closures and the associated loss of emergency care at primary schools. “It must be possible to schedule such events in such a way that teaching does not suffer,” says the ZEB and calls for these staff meetings to be postponed. The education authority is also cautious and admits that the exact impact of the meeting on teaching is currently unclear. Regardless of the discussion about school closures, the education department emphasizes that a massive disruption to teaching outweighs the interests of the employees. This is based on a ruling by the Bremen Higher Administrative Court from 1981, which makes the requirements clear.

Staff council and the topic of working time recording

Another focal point is the current legal disputes over working time recording in Bremen. On July 15, 2025, the staff council filed a complaint against a judicial decision by the Bremen Administrative Court. However, this had already confirmed in May 2025 that the Senate's final right to decide on the abolition of a co-determination procedure for recording working hours was part of it. Negotiations on this took place in mid-May 2025. Employees are now worried that this issue could come up again on September 3rd after the Senate temporarily withdrew a resolution on comprehensive working time recording in schools.

A pilot project to digitally record teachers' working hours is still scheduled to start in Bremen. The project will be in the preparation phase until July 2026. Six schools are taking part and from August 2026 teachers will be expected to document their working hours using iPads and a special app. Education Senator Sascha Aulepp (SPD) was optimistic and spoke of the hope that other federal states would also follow this model. The goal is a legally secure, permanently implementable regulation that takes into account the interests of both teachers and students.

The new teacher working time and duty regulations could set standards and, in the long term, provide more clarity and structure in hectic everyday school life. However, it remains to be seen whether this will be enough to calm school communities with their worries and fears. What is certain is that some important decisions will have to be made on September 3rd that could have far-reaching consequences for school education in Bremen. The anticipation of a constructive conversation in this challenging time could definitely be dampened a little.

All in all, September 3rd brings not only a staff meeting, but also many questions about school organization and the rights of teachers. Let's stay tuned and monitor developments in Bremen closely.

Further information can be found at buten un binnen, the Personalrat and the Deutscher School portal.