The constituency 46 offers scenic and political contrasts: The candidates introduce themselves in the BZ-Talk. They debate school policy and the financial situation.
A piece of Freiburg, the Dreisamtal and a large part of the Black Forest: This constituency is beautifully landscaped and politically challenging, as it is important to unite the interests of town and country. Daniela Evers (Greens), Manuel Herder (CDU), Jennifer Sühr (SPD), Daniel Rottmann (AfD), Marianne Schäfer (FDP) and Pascal Blank (left) want to join the state parliament and face the electorate on March 14th for optional. You answered the questions of the deputy BZ editor-in-chief Holger Knöferl and the head of the regional center for political education in Freiburg, Michael Wehner.
Education in times of corona
When it came to education, the online talk with the candidates quickly revealed one culprit: Susanne Eisenmann, top candidate of the CDU. She was blamed by the representatives of the other parties for much of what went wrong in education policy during the corona pandemic. Only one person raised his hand over his party colleague in a virtual protective manner and, in view of the greatest crisis since the end of the Second World War, urged fairness: Manuel Herder. The 54-year-old publisher from Buchenbach wants to recapture the constituency for the CDU that was lost to the Greens five years ago. “The schools have to reopen as soon as possible,” said Herder. Children have a right to education. He also spoke out in favor of giving those responsible on site a lot of creative freedom and referred to equipping schools with digital devices.
Daniela Evers, a lawyer from Titisee-Neustadt, wants to ensure that the constituency remains colored green. She has been a member of the municipal council of Titisee-Neustadt for the Greens since 2009 and accused the Ministry of Culture, led by Eisenmann, with a lack of concept. “Eisenmann missed out on concepts for digital teaching, and there is a lot of catching up to do,” said 49-year-old Evers. In view of the spreading mutations of the corona virus, an opening of the schools must always be linked to the incidence values and the premises on site, says the candidate for the Green Party. She also advocated interchangeable teaching models.
The SPD had already presented a position paper last year: “The crisis-proof classroom”. For example, it called for a prioritization of subjects, as Jennifer Sühr emphasized. Vacant rooms, even in rural areas, should have been used more creatively long ago in order to enable the children to return to the “school social space” more quickly. The lack of teachers is a major problem. The 36-year-old social worker from Stegen also considers school lessons on Saturdays to be an option.
The 51-year-old member of the state parliament, Daniel Rottmann of the AfD, spoke out in favor of equalizing local public transport and using coaches in school traffic. The Freiburg electrical engineer Marianne Schäfer (FDP) and the student Pascal Blank (left), who otherwise represented opposing positions, agreed that all schools should have been equipped with air filters for a long time. In view of the low incidence values in Freiburg, 31-year-old Schäfer spoke out in favor of gradually opening up educational institutions at the local level. In the long term, she sees digital education as a great opportunity for schoolchildren, for which she wants to stand up. “The minister of education tried to instrumentalise schools and day-care centers in the election campaign and thus played with the health of the children,” said the 27-year-old Blank from the Left. He warned that digital teaching creates social injustice as there is a lack of time and money to care for students in low-income households.
Finance and economy
“The debt of Baden-Württemberg was just under 45 billion euros before the Corona crisis, now it is just under 56 billion euros according to the Ministry of Finance,” said Wehner. He referred to the lifting of the debt brake and wanted to know from the candidates whether they would rather spend money or save. All candidates agreed in principle that one had to invest in such a crisis. Thanks to the good budget policy of the Green Finance Minister Edith Sitzmann in recent years, there are reserves for this, said Evers (Greens). In terms of climate protection, investments must primarily be made in the transformation of the automotive industry, in hydrogen technologies and education. Rottmann from the AfD sees the finance minister’s work as anything but positive. The state budget has been inflated in recent years, and the state government has managed to achieve a balanced budget only due to the bubbling tax revenue. With regard to the economy, he demanded: “The lockdown for catering and retail must be lifted quickly.”
From Herder’s point of view, entrepreneurs in rural areas should be given more support if they want to develop. “Every new job leads to growth and taxes, and that is what we will need most in the years to come.” He also spoke out in favor of more industrial parks. Taking on debt only for consumption would be a “crime against future generations”.
Jennifer Sühr (SPD) spoke out in favor of higher taxation for large companies like Starbucks: “There are also winners of the crisis,” she said. Companies that work for climate protection should be given targeted support. With regard to the automotive supplier industry in the constituency, she spoke out in favor of further training for employees.
“Under the guise of Corona, money may not be spent arbitrarily,” said Schäfer from the FDP. Social support, relief for companies and investments in schools are important now, but one must quickly get back to the debt brake. She generally criticized the fact that the state government had not yet presented a step-by-step plan on how to get out of the crisis. Blank (left) wants to invest in climate protection and the traffic transition. To this end, the trade tax is to be reformed and small companies pay less, while large companies pay more taxes. He also sees an opportunity for financing in the increase in wealth and inheritance tax.
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