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The meeting of the Conciliation Committee lasted only 21 minutes on Wednesday evening, when the negotiators announced the agreement. The amendment of the Basic Law Articles 104b and 104c is decided, the digital pact can come, happy faces, happy ending. If the Federal Council agrees as expected on 15 March, Germany's schools can now look forward to at least 5.5 billion euros for laptops, tablet computers and Internet connections, for teacher training and technically skilled staff.

The starting signal is late. More than two years ago, the then Federal Education Minister Johanna Wanka promised the money. Two years is a long time for children and adolescents. Two complete years, about two million students, have not gotten the chance to learn with the new technology.

Of course, wireless internet and a class set of computers do not promise good education. But in the professional world, it is assumed today that young people are naturally familiar with digital technology - and that they can not just type WhatsApp messages into their smartphones.

The struggle for the billions of dollars is a lesson in how the federal government and the federal states have almost collapsed an actually meaningful project. The Grand Coalition had worked out with the Greens and FDP in the Bundestag a draft for the amendment of the Basic Law, according to which the federal government could in the future much more involved in education policy than before. A group of mostly conservative prime ministers saw in it "a frontal attack on educational federalism."

As a result, the countries unanimously rejected the plan in the Federal Council, the "cooperation" had reached its low point. The situation was reminiscent of a traffic accident: a disastrous collision, in which afterwards all participants ask how this could happen now. The mediation committee had to save what could still be saved.

Three lessons remain from the digital pact dilemma:

First, no secrets!

In December, budget politicians at the grand coalition had written a last-minute passage to the bill that angered countries: for future federal and state joint projects, countries should pay half of the money and not ten percent, as in the Digital Pact. The states rightly ignored this - and failed the project in the Bundesrat.

Second, in the end, as always, it's about money.

How much had the prime ministers raged. Warned in interviews against a "uniform school policy from Berlin", so much did they fear the intervention of the Federation in the affairs of the countries. But as soon as the federal government had turned in on the financing question and removed the secretly inserted clause, the resistance of the countries crumbled immediately. Suddenly, there was no talk of rescuing federalism, according to those who were there.

Third, power games weaken citizens' trust.

Although the schools will eventually get their digital technology - the damage that has been done in the eyes of the citizens, should remain noticeable for a while. How do you explain to outsiders comprehensibly why a project that everyone considers useful and necessary would almost have failed?

With their Aufplusterei politicians of the federal and state have lost a good deal of confidence. They damaged the belief that representatives of the people do what they were elected to do: represent the interests of their citizens and act accordingly.