Free Choice: A Way to Reform the French School System  > workshops and research

While a real educational revolution occurs in numerous countries in the world, the French state school system is still centralized and gives no choice. Nevertheless, a recent opinion study shows that 90% of Frenchmen wish to obtain school choice for their children. An obvious step toward a possible reform.

Working paper

The French school system is often nicknamed « the mammuth ». This gives a clear indication of how outdated and unsuited to modern needs it is.

Reforming and rebuilding public management of education is therefore a priority. If France wants to remain competitive, its leaders will have to act now as other European countries have already moved to reshape their public education by introducing free choice.

Free choice is an unknown concept in France, however. It has to be discovered, mainly by importation. The objective of this working paper is to briefly analyze the current French system of public education and to show the road to reform.

Managing the Education Nationale

The management of French public schools is fundamentally flawed, as it is based on what the economist Charles Gave described as communist, detailing four criteria of the system:

• First, the system is oblivious of the concepts of merit and profit: the human and financial capital allocated to education are in no way remunerated. Funding is awarded according through the government according to the needs defined in the political process.

• Second, management is determined by the presence of civil servants and teachers’ unions: teachers are all government employees and the vast majority belong to unions whose influence shapes the system. Unions are also heavily subsidized.

• Third, the market is unheard of: the concept of supply and demand is not taught in schools, nor is it used to manage human resources. In other words, schooling is not conceived to correspond to the needs of parents and pupils or teachers. The existing supply of education is solely determined by the state.

Consequently, the de facto government monopoly in education excludes any kind of competition.

Management by school districts

By refusing market mechanisms, the state schools logically deny parents any right to choose. As a corollary, the governing principle is that of zoning by sectors (la carte scolaire): French children are obliged to attend a state school in their neighbourhood, and admittance is mainly defined by geographical criteria.

The current system was set up at a time when equal opportunity was the guiding principle. The purpose was to simultaneously manage demographic growth and the democratization of the French society.

Originally a supposed social benefit, geographical zoning today has become an impediment to social justice. It is no longer adapted to an evolving society which is becoming increasingly diverse.

Drawbacks

In a society where free choice is rapidly becoming the norm in most areas, the right to choose is considered natural for those who want to get around a monolithic and monopolistic system. In this respect, the French school system does offer an informal way to free choice, but which is available only to those who know the ropes and may sidestep the maze of the bureaucracy. Ordinary citizens are condemned to make do with the existing system and are thus forced to comply with the zoning regime. But there are two means of bypassing:

First, by using personal contacts inside the establishment. This is an option often used by the teachers themselves. Their children may thus be sent to the best schools where they can avoid contact with low performance, average teaching, decaying buildings etc.

Second, money is the ticket. By way of the informal internal market, the best schools are to be found in residential areas with high-income families. It is useful therefore to either live there or at least somehow obtain a second address (e.g. by renting a room or by giving the address of the grand-parents or a relative). Such practices are common, well-known to all and generally tolerated. There is of course also the alternative of private schools; but this requires a certain income level or a financial agreement which in turn implies being well connected with the school board in question.

What about the vast majority of families who are not familiar with these subtleties? What may be done for those who cannot afford to move, get a second address or pay tuition in a private school? Well, they are trapped in the official zoning system which forces children to attend substandard schools or even schools with problems and a high drop-out rate. This is the cost of living in the wrong street.

Thus, what was originally intended to favour equality amounts to a system which produces injustice, widening social inequality. This gap is currently threatening the social equilibrium by fencing in ordinary citizens without means or contacts in a social and educational ghetto.

Despite these serious problems, the public school system has not evolved: average public expenditure per pupil has never been higher, the number of pupils is falling, taxes are rising, teachers are constantly demonstrating for more resources and academic results are declining. Where did the money go and where may we look for innovation?

Private schools under government licence

France presents a structural specificity which is another obstacle to innovation:

Historically, the separation between private and state education originates in the fight opposing church and state in the 19th century. As a result, almost all private institutions were regrouped by a single establishment, i.e. the Catholic church. This means that 95% of French private schools are currently managed by the church which thus holds a virtual monopoly. Hence the special relationship between the government and the private sector.

Status: private schools are “under contract” (99% of private schools plus a tiny private sector without public endorsement)

This means that the private sector suffers from the same drawbacks as the state schools:

although nominally private, the overwhelming majority receive public funding to pay their teachers who enjoy the same position as their civil servant colleagues (identical career, although lower pay)

private schools may not recruit freely, but are obliged to employ teachers who have obtained the state certificate identical to that required for public school teachers. Both categories are also trained in the same schools

the curriculum is the same for all, as the exit point for both public and private establishments remains the baccalauréat (the key diploma giving access to university education)

In other words, the private schools may be considered equivalent to state schools in the sense that their teachers have the same status, and the curriculum is the same. Any attempt to initiate fundamental reform will not come from the inside.

However, private schools under contract are more responsive to consumer demand and therefore potentially more sensitive to market-based reforms. Pupils attend these schools because their parents have chosen them based on their track record, standards of excellence, teaching abilities and so on. There is therefore a limited amount of competition, albeit informal and regulated, e.g. through meetings of private school principals in a given geographical area.

The road to reform

The formation of human capital is a huge market, regardless of public policy. Indeed, many countries have realized that their public systems require thorough reform in order to adapt to this fact, and new initiatives have also given a new impetus to formerly sclerotic systems.

The objective is therefore to reform the existing state system by introducing new methods of management and funding which would empower parents and teachers alike, i.e. letting demand - what parents want - rather than supply - what government dictates - to shape the system.

This new type of management is based on one single principle: free choice. It entails two governing guidelines for policy:

- finance reform: money follows the pupil rather than the school. Parents have the right to select the school and consequently decide on the funding

- introduction of an internal market by way of competition: teachers may choose to opt out of the current system by “management buy-out” or the creation of charter schools (budgetary independence)

Introducing free choice entails the implementation of three tools:

• vouchers
• charter schools
• homeschooling

Studying foreign experiences is paramount, whether in Europe, the United States or in Asia. Various reforms have been introduced in the last decade, but they all aimed at accommodating the principle of free choice, for parents, pupils and teachers. Similarly, French schools will need to be able to pick the right solutions, through trial and error, by gaining the freedom to choose.

Free choice has yet to be implemented in France. Essential information on current experiences in creating a market for school choice may be found on a variety of websites, one of the most valuable being that of Milton Friedman. The following is a summary, read the full text at The ABC’s of School Choice.

Vouchers

Universel Vouchers Programs
Means-Tested Voucher Programs
Failing Schools, Failing Students Vouchers
Special Education Voucher Programs

Tax credits - tax deduction

Direct Tax Credits - deductions
Scholarship Tax Credits

Charter Schools

Homeschool