Brandenburg Education Minister Warns of Unprecedented Teacher Shortage in 2026

Brandenburg's Education Minister Gordon Hoffmann warned Thursday that the state faces its largest teacher shortage on record in the upcoming school year, prompting the state parents' council to demand that the SPD/CDU coalition prioritize education spending in the next budget. Hoffmann, who has served as minister since 2026, made the announcement before the education committee of the state parliament, stating that the combination of peak student enrollment and a deepening teacher deficit will create an unprecedented strain on the school system. He said he could not guarantee that timetable coverage for the next school year would be maintained at previous levels. The parents' council, responding to the warning, called on coalition partners to ensure sufficient funds are allocated when drafting the upcoming budget. Spokesman Matthias Knoll told the German Press Agency that investment in education must be the budget's central priority.

Two million lost teaching hours alarm parents' council The state parents' council outlined the scale of the existing crisis in an internal letter, warning that the situation has already deteriorated well before the projected peak. According to the letter, approximately are currently lost or cannot take place as planned. The council stated that while the coalition agreement provides for the creation of 250 additional positions to stabilize the student-teacher ratio, stabilization alone is not sufficient and a noticeable improvement is necessary. The parents' council declared it sees the securing of school timetables as being in serious danger. The council also expressed support for the citizens' initiative "Lessons instead of cancellations", which campaigns against the widespread cancellation of classes. Knoll expressed cautious hope that lateral entrants — career changers entering teaching from other professions — could still be recruited to ease the shortage.

Budget cuts and extra hours fueled teacher protests The crisis has been building over the current school year, driven in part by deliberate reductions in teaching staff. The 2025 budget saw a reduction of 345 (full-time positions) — teaching positions cut in Brandenburg's 2025 budget full-time teaching positions, a move that Hoffmann acknowledged directly prevented the hiring of many lateral entrants in the past school year. Compounding the staffing shortfall, most teachers in Brandenburg have been required to teach one additional hour per week since the second half of the current school year. That measure triggered protests among teaching staff. The combination of fewer teachers and increased workloads per remaining teacher has placed the system under visible strain ahead of what Hoffmann described as the coming "absolute peak."

„We will experience the absolute peak next school year with the highest number of students in Brandenburg and the greatest shortage of teachers.” — Gordon Hoffmann via Der Tagesspiegel

Brandenburg is a federal state in northeastern Germany surrounding the capital Berlin, with Potsdam as its state capital. Teacher shortages have been a recurring challenge across German federal states in recent years, driven by demographic factors including an aging teaching workforce and rising student numbers. The SPD/CDU coalition governing Brandenburg faces competing budget pressures as it drafts future spending plans, with education advocates arguing that cuts to teaching positions have compounded structural staffing problems.

Brandenburg teaching staff — 2025 budget impact: Full-time teaching positions (before: Pre-2025 level, after: Reduced by 345 full-time positions); Weekly teaching hours per teacher (before: Standard contractual hours, after: One additional hour per week added since second half of school year)

Parents hope coalition will reverse course on hiring The parents' council's appeal comes as the SPD/CDU coalition prepares to draft a new budget, giving advocates a narrow window to influence spending decisions before the next school year begins. Knoll expressed measured optimism that the budget process could still yield a path to attracting more lateral entrants, describing it as a potential solution that has not yet been ruled out. The council's internal letter made clear, however, that the coalition agreement's current provisions — focused on stabilization rather than expansion — fall short of what is needed to reverse the trend of lost teaching hours. The parents' council framed the budget as a direct test of the coalition's commitment to education. Hoffmann, for his part, offered no assurance that timetable coverage could be maintained at the standards Brandenburg schools have previously met, leaving the burden of expectation squarely on the budget negotiations ahead.