Several provisions of the North Rhine-Westphalian substitute school ordinance (ESchVO) are invalid. This was determined by the Federal Administrative Court (BVerwG) at the request of two providers of independent Waldorf schools and two teachers at a public school with a Waldorf educational background (Ref.: 6 CN 1.24 of 1 October 2025).

The criticism essentially concerns the provision (§7 ESchVO), which prescribes an assessment procedure for potential teachers at public schools. According to this, they are required to prove their suitability to the higher school supervisory authority through written work, practical teaching and oral examinations. It is true that the Basic Law states that teachers at public schools must be just as well trained as teachers at public schools. The assessment procedure is an examination procedure that opens up the profession and is subject to stricter requirements in accordance with Article 12 of the Basic Law. Essential regulations, for example on qualifications, appointment and the number of examiners, were missing in the ESChVO and should have been laid down by law. Furthermore, in the opinion of the BVerwG, the constitutionally protected freedom of public schools to select their teaching staff was too severely restricted by the provisions of the ESChVO.