School autonomy in a society with multi-faceted political references: the search for new ways of coordinating action

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Abstract
The French school is changing from a pyramid-like structure where all schools are conceived as units executing decisions made at the top into one organized on a network basis with schools as basic units linked together through ‘conventions’. There are conventions between schools on how to allocate specialized options and clientele in each catchment area, conventions between schools and local political authorities or firms concerning resources, etc. This article examines the evolving relationship between these two models from the beginning of the 1980s. It first points out their limits: while the increase in the power of local political authorities over schools through the allocation of complementary subsidies is an undeniable fact, initiatives concerning actual teaching activities remain quite modest. Secondly, it shows that the state has progressively abandoned the idea of reaching local consensus on education-related values in favour of a more pragmatic view of local compromises on certain key measures. Finally, the article examines the link between school autonomy and educational equality.

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