"Unprecedented Law-Disguised Plunder"... Kim Jin-tae's Statement Opposing the 'Private School Act Amendment'

Education Sector, "Opposition to Mandatory Legislation for Superintendent-Entrusted Private School Teacher Appointment"
Christian Community, "Constitutional Challenge and Election Boycott Threatened if Passed in Plenary Session"

Jin-tae Kim, Chairman of the Chuncheon City Party Committee of the People Power Party [Provided by the People Power Party Chuncheon City Party]

[Asia Economy Reporter La Youngcheol] Kim Jintae, Chairman of the People Power Party Chuncheon City Party Member Council, has joined the opposition against the 'Private School Act (Sahakbeop) Amendment Bill,' which is pointed out as a problematic bill along with the Media Arbitration Act.

On the 25th, Chairman Kim issued a statement saying, "Another problematic bill, the 'Private School Act Amendment Bill,' is about to pass the National Assembly," and pointed out, "The main point of the Private School Act Amendment Bill is that the appointment of private school teachers will be handled by the Office of Education."

He continued, "The Private School Act Amendment Bill is an unprecedented excessive infringement of private property rights worldwide and a plunder disguised as law," criticizing the bill.

He also rebutted, "Private school foundations will no longer be able to appoint teachers and must accept whoever the Office of Education assigns, and mission schools will not be able to refuse teachers of other religions."

Chairman Kim further stated, "In the old difficult days, private school founders used their private wealth to take charge of one pillar of education, laying the foundation for the modernization of the nation," and added, "The leftists have been scheming to reform private school foundations and now intend to swallow them whole."

He especially emphasized, "The reason for rushing education policy, which is a century-long plan, is merely to hammer the last nail before handing over the chairmanship of the National Assembly Education Committee to the opposition," and warned, "If the country is shaken to its roots like this, it will be difficult to rebuild even after a regime change."

Meanwhile, the National Assembly Education Committee, on the 19th, passed the 'Private School Act Amendment Bill' solely by the ruling party, which includes entrusting private school teacher recruitment exams to city and provincial superintendents of education.

Subsequently, from the afternoon of the 24th until past midnight and into the early morning of the next day, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee forcibly passed the Private School Act Amendment Bill and other contentious bills while the opposition had left the meeting.

The amendment bill mainly requires private schools to entrust the first written exam for teacher recruitment to the Office of Education.

As the 'Private School Act Amendment Bill' has passed the threshold of the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee, opposition from private schools is reaching a peak. They plan to consider filing a constitutional complaint and refusing entrusted recruitment.

According to the education sector, the enforcement decree of the Private School Act stipulates that open recruitment for teachers is conducted by the appointing authority but may be entrusted to the city or provincial superintendent of education where the school is located.

Accordingly, private schools nationwide have been autonomously conducting entrusted recruitment only for the first written exam, and making this mandatory is considered unfair.

They also oppose the content of the amendment that upgrades private school operation committees from advisory bodies to deliberative bodies, requiring them to review the school corporation's accounting and budget settlements, arguing that this will undermine the board of directors' functions.

The amendment expands the school teacher disciplinary committee from the current 5 or more to 11 or fewer members and requires including at least two external members. Each Office of Education will establish a disciplinary review committee for re-examination of teacher disciplinary actions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.