“We expect that if the government and the minister responsible for education do not define what constitutes adequacy, the court will have to determine it. We cannot live in constant uncertainty, because we are constantly faced with the situation of not knowing how much funding we will receive for education or what pay raises for teachers will be negotiated. Therefore, we cannot plan our finances,” said the mayor of Szczecin, Piotr Krzystek, in an interview with the PAP Local Government Service.
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Subsidies for Szczecin are insufficient. The city filed a lawsuit
He added that Szczecin finances additional classes for students and psychological assistance from its own funds, but the dispute concerns the costs that should be covered by the state – primarily salaries in schools and kindergartens run by the local government.
He pointed out that the educational subsidy from 2018 was not even enough for salariesadding that the financing of public services by local governments is determined by the Constitution.
The Mayor of Szczecin noted that introducing “educational needs” instead of subsidies did not solve the problem. “At the moment, the difference between teachers' salaries and related benefits and educational needs is still a significant amount. This is only the first year of the new system and we will only make specific calculations, but not much has changed,” he noted. Krzystek also emphasized that this year it was possible to finance the raises only because many teachers retired.
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He is currently investigating the case District Court in Warsawwho, after obtaining an expert opinion, is to issue a decision.
Local governments support Szczecin
The city's actions were appreciated by local government circles. “The court route is a new solution. So far, local governments, with well-formulated lawsuits and well-documented expenses, have often won against the State Treasury. This has never happened before in education,” admitted Andrzej Porawski, director of the office of the Association of Polish Cities, quoted by Radio Szczecin.
Porawski recalled that Łódź had previously submitted a similar application to the Constitutional Tribunal, which, however, found that the subsidy was a subsidy and did not cover the full costs. “We will support Szczecin because if such a precedent were to occur, it would be in the interest of all local governments,” he said.
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Optimism is shared by Marek Wójcik, secretary of the local government side of the Joint Commission of Government and Territorial Self-Government. “I think this is a very interesting project and I can honestly confirm that it will definitely influence the determination of the costs we incur and the conversation about what the revenues of local governments should be,” he said. As Wójcik noted, local governments are desperate and increasingly use legal means to collect the money owed to them. However, not all attempts end in success.
In July 2025, the court dismissed a similar lawsuit Radomwhich demanded nearly PLN 53 million from the State Treasury for an underestimated subsidy in 2020. The judgment is not final.
