Not without consensus

On Thursday the educational community, from kindergarten to college, came out on the street to protest against reforms to the system, consideration of which the Cabinet postponed on Friday pending aspects that need to be clarified. The bill submitted by Education Minister José Ignacio Wert looks set to begin its parliamentary passage without consensus and amid widespread demonstrations, in what has already become an endemic ill in Spain: the flip-flop succession of educational reforms of clear ideological bent imposed by the government of the moment, which are annulled as soon as the other party comes to power. That of Wert will be the eighth such reform since the beginning of Spain’s transition to democracy. None of these reforms has been in place for sufficient time to gauge their effectiveness.

To lend itself to such evaluation, an education plan must be developed over a period of time. The sensible way would be to start from a model based on broad consensus and to submit its implementation to ongoing evaluation so as to correct what doesn’t work. No doubt the existing model has shortcomings that have to be addressed. A school failure rate of 24.9 percent calls for reforms. Wert’s aim was ambitious, so it is all the more regrettable that he has been unable to create a dynamic of dialogue sufficient to produce agreement.

The implantation of a new system governing the teaching profession ought to have the backing of a pact with the educational community

Various studies have shown, for example, the need to establish incentives for teaching quality, in such a way as to reward those teachers who do their job with outstanding dedication. But the implantation of a new system governing the teaching profession ought to have the backing of a pact with the educational community, and an upgrading of resources. Given that neither of these requisites has been forthcoming, the reform fails to address this crucial aspect, which is also found objectionable by many teachers who see the present rigid system as a protective shield. Experts also agree on the desirability of granting greater power to school principals: it is positive that they should have more authority and be able to form their own teams. Until now, the administration has shared appointment decisions with teachers and parents, but the new bill gives the administration total discretion. The temptation to apply clientelistic criteria may tend to a very negative politicization of management structures.

These are only two examples of what is at stake. But what has mobilized the education sector against the bill is the combination of this project, which is perceived as regressive, with a background of budget cutbacks. After spending cuts of 6.7 billion euros since 2010, the persistent degradation of the public school system to the benefit of the subsidized private sector seems bound to have a serious effect on equity. And a quality public education system is the foundation of equality of opportunity. Apart from ideological impositions, which are not acceptable in a plural society — such as the treatment of religion and the protection afforded to schools that separate the sexes — the reforms contain many worrying elements. The minister still has time to negotiate. He must not waste the opportunity.