The Social Democratic Party, supported by a number of deputies from other political groups, plans to bring suit before West Germany’s Supreme Constitutional Court against Article 36 of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Constitution, which makes teaching appointments in the public elementary schools conditional upon membership in one of the Christian denominations.
As reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency at the time, the Social Democrats failed in an effort last year to have this discriminatory provision rescinded by the Rhineland-Palatinate legislature. They are now going a step further by seeking to have Article 36 ruled unconstitutional, on the ground that it violates the guarantees of religious equality contained in the West German Constitution.
For such a suit to be considered by the Supreme Constitutional Court, it must be signed by one-third of all Bundestag deputies, which is more than the effective strength of the Social Democratic delegation. Support has been promised, however, by Dr. Thomas Dehler, the chairman of the Free Democratic Party, by some members of the refugee party and by only one of the 244 deputies of the Christian Democratic Union, Prof. Franz Boehm.
When questioned about the issue, Rhineland-Palatinate Minister of Education Dr. Albert Finck, of the Christian Democratic Union, declared that Jewish parochial schools could of course be established if Jewish parents in the state desired it. In that case, he added, Jewish teachers might be employed at such parochial schools.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
