The education agreement, prepared over the course of nearly a year, has turned out to be deception on a grand scale regarding teacher salaries. With it, Minister of Education Kristina Kallas (Eesti 200) attempted to mask her failure to assert herself in the government and secure funding for raising teacher salaries.

Local governments, led by experienced politicians who have long overseen municipal affairs, clearly saw through this ruse and refused to sign the agreement. Of Estonia's 79 local governments, 70 declined to join. With this, local leaders sent a clear message: the agreement does not meet its stated goals nor the minister's earlier promises.

All involved still vividly recall that negotiations for the education agreement began as a means to end the strike initiated in January of this year, during which teachers demanded higher wages. Minister of Education Kristina Kallas, who had pledged just before the 2023 Riigikogu elections that she would raise teachers' minimum salaries to 120 percent of Estonia's average wage by 2024, promised during the education agreement talks to honor her previous salary commitments while freely issuing new promises.

When the strike was halted, both sides agreed to start negotiations for a collective agreement that would ensure teachers' average calculated salary reached 120 percent of the national average by 2027. Additionally, goals were set to agree on a salary and career model for teachers, as well as improvements to other working conditions.

The education agreement now contains many new and appealing promises, but the Ministry of Education has not allocated funding for these commitments in next year's state budget or in the government-approved fiscal strategy for the next four years.

Teacher salaries will not increase next year; on the contrary, when accounting for inflation, their real wages will actually decrease, despite earlier promises by the Minister of Education. What has been offered to local governments and teachers in this agreement is, therefore, a blatant fraud.

Of course, the blame does not lie with the teachers or the nine local governments that signed the agreement. However, the minister of education herself refuses to admit that she has become, due to these inadequate agreements, a repeat offender in making false promises. Instead of a sincere admission, she claimed on ETV's "Esimene stuudio" talk show on Tuesday that the education agreement's failure was the fault of the Isamaa party, which allegedly prevented local governments from joining the agreement.

This desperate lie is simply ridiculous. Of the 70 municipalities that did not sign the education agreement, Isamaa politicians do not play a decisive role in about 50 of them. Yet, these municipalities still had the sense to recognize the minister's deceit.

Isamaa has always valued education through actions and substance, not empty promises. Kristina Kallas' predecessor, Tõnis Lukas, an Isamaa member, managed to secure a 24 percent salary increase for teachers in the 2023 state budget. This was achieved even during a time of war in Ukraine and an economic crisis in Estonia. Teachers were not mocked with an agreement lacking budgetary backing.

This summer, the education minister promised to resign if the education agreement failed to materialize. At the very least, Kristina Kallas could now fulfill that promise, as the agreement – rejected by 70 out of 79 local governments – fails to meet its objectives and is effectively an unsigned document.

Blaming Isamaa instead of acknowledging the shortcomings of the agreement demonstrates a fundamental issue: the minister of education's lack of authority. This critique is not so much about her personally but about her motives in constructing a façade of promises to cover up unfulfilled commitments.

The entire negotiation and involvement process for the education agreement seemed designed to obscure promises made after the teachers' strike. However, the failure to deliver a salary increase next year can no longer be hidden behind this fig leaf. Lies eventually surface. Why, then, deceive teachers yet again with an agreement that does not deliver on its promises? A career model does not equate to the promised salary increase.

In my opinion, the Minister of Education enjoyed the negotiation process more than addressing substantive issues. The claim that municipalities have never been brought to the table before is also untrue. Tõnis Lukas, as minister of education, signed a three-party agreement. However, the kind of drawn-out spectacle, where attention is consumed entirely by appearances, is unprecedented.

If the minister of education and the government as a whole fail to take steps to ensure real and measurable investments in education, we may soon face a severe teacher shortage and a decline in the quality of education. This is not merely a problem for the education sector but a threat to Estonia's long-term development and competitiveness.

Criticism of the education agreement and the minister of education is not mere political nitpicking but a challenge: for the sake of the future of education, genuine political will and bold decisions are needed. If the minister of education cannot provide this, it is time to consider whether the right person is in office, as Estonian education needs a fresh start.

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