Politics · Italy · 5 hrs ago
Italy’s budget plan cuts school staffing and changes magistrates’ pay rises
Italy’s newly published draft budget cuts nearly 7,000 school jobs, including teaching and support staff posts.
The cuts are expected to save almost €252 million a year from 2028, while unions and opposition parties say schools need more staff.
The plan also changes how pay rises are calculated for judges, prosecutors and state lawyers, whose salaries are adjusted every three years.
A court ruling had overturned the government’s method for calculating those increases, leading to a proposed €979 million allocation to cover higher pay owed for recent years.
The budget would set a weighted calculation for future increases and exclude some groups from the comparison, which could reduce magistrates’ pay rises.
Magistrates are considering possible constitutional appeals against that change.
The budget now moves into parliamentary debate, where changes may be made.
Italy’s 2026 budget plan cuts 6,974 school jobs, with annual savings of nearly €252 million from 2028.
The plan also changes how pay rises are calculated for magistrates and other public employees whose salaries are not set through collective bargaining.
Opposition parties and unions criticized the school staffing cuts, while the government said Parliament could make changes to the budget.
The magistrate pay changes follow administrative court rulings that increased the salary adjustments due for two recent three-year periods.
The budget also provides €979 million to cover those recalculated arrears.
- Who
- The Italian government proposed the budget measures. Opposition parties, unions and magistrates are among those affected or critical.
- What
- The plan cuts school staffing and changes how some public-sector pay rises are calculated, including those for magistrates.
- When
- The draft budget was published on October 31, 2026.
- Where
- Italy.
- Why
- The school cuts are expected to save nearly €252 million a year from 2028. The pay calculation changes would limit future salary adjustments after court rulings increased amounts due.
Italian government
Opposition parties, unions and magistrates
School staffing
Italian government
The government’s budget cuts 6,974 school posts, with savings of nearly €252 million a year from 2028. Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said Parliament could make changes.
Opposition parties, unions and magistrates
Opposition parties and unions criticized the cuts and called for investment and more school staff.
Magistrate pay
Italian government
The budget changes the calculation of pay rises, including by applying a weighted average based on the size of public employee categories.
Opposition parties, unions and magistrates
The administrative court rulings set aside the previous calculation method; some magistrates are considering possible appeals to the Constitutional Court over the new rules.
The first of two three-year periods later affected by administrative court rulings on magistrate pay adjustments.
The second three-year period covered by the administrative court rulings.
Articles reported that Italy’s draft budget had been published, including school staffing cuts and changes to pay adjustment rules.
The CGIL was preparing to hold a strike, according to ANSA.
The school staffing cuts are set to generate nearly €252 million in annual savings from this year.
- School autonomy staffing
- 4,925 fewer posts
- School support staff (ATA)
- 2,049 fewer posts
- Total school posts cut
- 6,974
- Annual savings from school cuts
- Nearly €252 million from 2028
- Magistrate salary arrears funding
- €979 million
- Budget amendments
- €120 million for 2027 and another €120 million for 2028
4 sources
What people are saying
if there were changes and improvements, Parliament is there for that
In the face of young people’s hardship, educational poverty and growing difficulties in school work, what is needed is investment and staff, starting with teachers and ATA personnel, and certainly not cuts
it seems written by the government of another country, if not another planet
The use of the weighted average is intended to avoid incorrect representations of the actual average per-capita increase provided for by the law, which would result from assigning equal weight to salaries for groups of different sizes