Should the State Finance Private Education? Alain Savary's Attempt to Solve the Private School Debate in France from 1981 to 1984
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SHOULD THE STATE FINANCE PRIVATE EDUCATION? ALAIN SAVARY'S ATTEMPT TO SOLVE THE PRIVATE SCHOOL DEBATE IN FRANCE FROM 1981 TO 1984 Sofia Oberti B.A, University of British Columbia, 1999 THESIS SUBMTITED IN PARTLAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of History O Sofia Oberti 2001 SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY August, 2001 Al1 tïghts resewed. This work may not be reproduced in whole or in part, by photocopy or other means, without permission of tne author. National Library Bibliothèque nationale 1*1 of Canada du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibtiographic Services services bibliographiques 395 Wellington Street 395. rue Wellington Ottawa ON KiA ON4 Ottawa ON Ki A ON4 Canada Canada The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive licence allowing the exclusive permettant à la National Library of Canada to Bibliothèque nationale du Canada de reproduce, loan, distribute or seli reproduire, prêter, distribuer ou copies of this thesis in microform, vendre des copies de cette thèse sous paper or electronic formats. la fome de microfiche/film, de reproduction sur papier ou sur format électronique. The author retains ownership of the L'auteur conserve la propriété du copyright in this thesis. Neither the droit d'auteur qui protège cette thèse. thesis nor substantial extracts fiom it Ni la thèse ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent être imprimés reproduced without the author7s ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. ABSTRACT This thesis examines the private versus public school debate that took place in France when the Socialists came to power in 1981. The Minister of Education Alain Savary attempted to find a compromise between his party7s insistence on a unified and secular system of education, no longer subsidizing private education, and the Catholic's position favouring state aid to private education whiie allowing some freedom of education. Savary's failure to achieve his objective, largely because the Socialist deputies in the National Assembly sabotaged his delicate compromise, led to the fa11 of the ~Mauroygovernment in 1984. The compromise Savary was seeking and failed to obtain was one in which the public and private (Catholic) schools would coexist, as they do today, with private schools depending heavily on state aid to survive while being subject to considerable state control. This thesis analyzes the origin and development of the private and public school debate from Napoleon to Mitterrand, the cornplex interpIay of forces within the Socialist government and in private education, and the events Ieading to the withdrawal of the bill in 1984. The educational debate is important because the great majority (three-quarters) of the French people supported Savary's compromise between public and private education, while the government held to its anticlerical position despite changing public opinion. Although Alain Savary resigned, his three years as Minister of Education were invaluable to the future of French education as most of his reforrns were realized in the following years. The primary sources of this thesis are the works of the main actors in the debate, ... II1 from Alain Savary himself to the leaders defending the public and the pnvate schools, who provide different explanations for Savary's failed attempt to resolve the private- public school issue. It draws upon newspapers and journals for statistics and further analysis, as well as on the parliarnentary debates for a vivid picture of the political conflicts, which led to the blockage of policy innovation. The extensive secondary literature on the French education system, particularly since Napoleon's Concordat, is helpful in understanding the roots and significance of the Chumh-State educational quarrel in 1984. To my parents I wish to express my utmost gratitude to Dr. Charles R. Day, whose knowledge, encouragement and support have been invaluable to achieve the completion of this thesis. His thorough and on going reviews, feedback, guidance and patience reflect his dedication to teaching. Many thanks also to Dr. Mary Lynn Stewart, whose fresh perspective and useful insights were of great help. I would also like to thank my mother, who inspired me with her culture and critical rnind, and family and friends who supported me in coui;tIess ways. Their interest to balance my academic endeavours with non-acadernic activities has been most appreciated. TABLE OF CONTENTS Approval Page Abstract Dedication Acknowledgements List of TabIesFigures Abbreviations Introduction I The Origin of the Church-State Conflict in Education 2 Private and Public Schools in France, 198 2 3 Savary's Attempts to Solve the Church-State Debate Conclusion Appendices Bibliography vii LIST OF TABLESLFIGURES Table 1. Number of pupils per year in public and private schools 50 Figure 1. The use of public and private schools by French farnilies 62 viii APEL Association des parents d'élèves de l'enseignement libre APLE Association parlementaire pour la liberté de l'enseignement B ac Baccalauréat CAPES Certificat d'aptitude professionnelle d'enseignement sécondaire CNAL, Comité national d'action laique CNEC Comité national de l'enseignement catholique EIP Etablissements d'intérêt public FCPE Fédération des conseils de parents d'élèves des écoles publiques FEN Fédération de l'éducation nationale FEP Fédération de l'enseignement privé MW Mouvement républicain populaire PS Parti socialiste RPR Rassemblement pour la république SFI0 Section française de l'internationale ouvrière SNEC Syndicat national de l'enseignement chrétien SNES Syndicat national des enseignements de second degré SNE sup Syndicat nationai de l'enseignement supérieur SNI Syndicat national des instituteurs SPELC Syndicat professionnel de l'enseignement libre Catholique UNAPEL Union nationale de l'association des parents d'élèves de l'enseignement libre On 11 May 1981 François Mitterrand was elected President of the French Republic. There was great enthusiasm in 1981, for it was the first time during the Fifth Republic (1958 to the present) that a Socialist President and left-wing parliament would govern France. Mitterrand's party platform was based on a "modemization" theme, which implied keeping up with the technological and scientific advances and social- econornic changes that had taken place since 1945. This involved far-reaching educational reform, one aspect of which was the creation of a unified and democratic school system in which private schools would no longer receive state subsidies. Sociaiists believed that publicly funded private schools should, in principle, be nationaiized because the funds directed to the private schools had increased to over one billion francs and were depriving the public schools of funds. They failed to reaiize, however, that three quarters of the French people favored govemment aid to private schools. This thesis describes the attempts of Alain Savary, education minister from 1981 to 1984, to formulate a bill that wouid reform both the privzte and public schools without threatening the autonomy and subsidies the private schools enjoyed. After three years of negotiations, Savary finally drafted a reform bill that was agreed upon by representatives of both the private and public schools. The bill was corning close to passage when the Socialist group in the National .4ssernbly amended it, strengthening its secular tone, thus provoking a Catholic reaction and a massive demonstration with over one million people protesting on behalf of subsidized private education and the right to "freedorn of education." The thesis examines the efforts of Savary to find a compromise between the militant anticlericals in his own party, who favored the complete integration of state- aided Catholic schools to the public system, and the desire of the Church, backed, as it became increasingly obvious, by public sentiment to maintain some degree of independence for their schools as an alternative to the public system. The majority of French people were secular and liberal ir! outlook and yet there was mass support from both the Lefi and the Right for Catholic schools; this thesis asks how Savary's efforts to reach a peaceful solution through a delicate compromise with the Catholic schools failed, ruined by his own government. The debate between private and public schools in 1981 was not a battle between the Church's religious teachings versus the state's scientific and civic instruction. Instead, it focused on "liberty of education" and the people's right to choose subsidized private schools, which were affordable to the lower classes and a viable alternative to the public schools. 1 Religion was but a minor issue, as less than fifteen percent of the French were practicing CathoIics in 198 1, and religion was not a mandatory subject in private schools (of which 95 percent were Catholic) for pupils after the age of fourteen? This thesis is unique for it is one of the only studies written in English that examines Savary's attempt to resolve once and for a11 the private school debate in France from 198 1 to 1984. Historians have overlooked President Mitterrand's abandonment of the Savary project, which caused Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy and Education Minister Alain Savary to resign. This was a tuming point because, despite the setback of 1984, it ' Class is detennined by econornic and social conditions, as identified by occupation. Pierre Bourdieu stated: "Toconstmct he classes and class fractions on which analyses are based, systematic account was taken not only of occupation and education Ievel but also, in each case, of the available indices of the volume of the different sorts of capitai, as weIl as age, sex and place of residence." Pierre Bourdieu, Distinction: A Social Critiqzie of the Judgernent of Tasre (London: Routiedge, 1984), 57 1. LaVie, 7-13 June 1984,30- set the stage for a new period of cooperation between the private and public schools, where diversity and pluralism replaced the old notion of laicité.