When we talk about educational quality, we often focus on curricula, methodologies, or academic results, while a key factor is overlooked: the autonomy of schools in assembling their teaching teams. The ability to select the teachers who will staff public schools is constantly questioned and often blocked, acting as an invisible barrier that limits the development of teams that truly meet the needs of students. However, education requires time, stability, and connections with students and families—elements impossible to guarantee when staffing levels are constantly changing and teachers are assigned to schools without any understanding of the educational project.

I remember perfectly when, during recess four years ago, a colleague showed us artificial intelligence on his phone. Apparently, he'd heard about it on the radio and, out of curiosity, had tried it out. In front of us, he asked it to compare Modernism and Noucentisme and even to generate a poem in the style of Maragall. Before we'd even finished our coffee, a long and exhaustive piece of work, just as he'd asked, started appearing on the phone screen. The poem too. It was like something out of a magic trick. What was the catch? Who was writing all this? We immediately saw that the tool was fantastic, but also dangerous for the world of education.

Being a teacher is a profession, and like any other, it requires dedication and learning. It's a wonderful, powerful profession that has a significant impact on people's lives. I started teaching in 1986, about 40 years ago, and I've always felt fortunate to have had this job. However, being a teacher in the 1980s wasn't the same as being one in the 21st century: the world has changed... and will change in a few years. The job isn't easy. We work with adolescents, people with a different worldview than adults. Conflicts arise. You have to be aware of them and be prepared to face them and, if possible, resolve them.

On August 29 and 30 – just a few days before teachers in Catalonia returned to their schools to prepare for the arrival of students this Monday–, more than 50 countries from around the world gathered in Chile to sign the Santiago Consensus, a historic agreement promoted by UNESCO.

I have decided to leave teaching after approximately 27 years of dedication to it. This decision stems from a deep reflection on my career as a student and teacher.

It's exam day at the Lycée Française Saint-Exupéry in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso. Very close to the central market, a hub of commerce, bustle, and shouting, stands a wall with double barbed wire and little signage. From the outside, it doesn't look like a high school, but when you walk through the door, neither does it. There's very little activity and a lot of silence. In fact, it's Baccalaureate day. selectivity, an exam such as the selectivity that allows students to continue higher education and that puts an end to the stage of high school (equivalent to high school).

A few days ago, the results of the basic skills tests for sixth grade primary school and fourth year secondary school were released. As usual, the focus has been on the decline or stagnation in results. But perhaps we should go beyond the numbers. Not to minimize them, but to understand what lies behind them. Because student results are not only their responsibility. They also speak to the education system we have built—or that we have allowed to develop.

I have some memories from my high school days that would be unthinkable today. They didn't harm my education precisely because school prepared us to judge the behavior of adults like adults. Does that mean we were already educated at home? In part, yes, but it wouldn't have been enough if high school hadn't also held us accountable for our judgments. These memories are of behaviors as scandalous as they were humanly excusable, precisely because they taught us to distinguish between what was serious and what wasn't. Teacher behavior is an essential part of education, which in my case was always in the public system.

More strikes in schools. Teachers' unions warned that the end of the school year would not be peaceful if the Catalan Department of Education did not reverse the cuts for the next year and, after negotiations were broken off, they have announced industrial action in May and June. On May 25 and June 9 teachers will strike all day and on May 17 and June 2 they will strike for two hours, from 8.00 am to 10.00 am. Unions are calling protests to denounce the Education Department's policies, which among other measures has brought forward the start of next school year. The unions are now demanding above all that the Department to reduce number of teaching hours in primary schools (as the Government had proposed) but also in secondary schools as of next year (which the department says is technically impossible).