Public or state-subsidized school: what have families asked for next school year?

BarcelonaAt the beginning of March, around 100,000 families across Catalonia were awaiting a procedure: deciding which school or institute they would choose for their children to begin a new educational stage. The deadline for this process opened on March 4th for Infantil 3 (I3), and on March 6th for 1st year of ESO, exactly three weeks after the first general strike of the year in the Catalan public education sector. A strike that four out of ten teachers supported, according to the Government's assessment, and 85% according to the organizing unions. The coincidence between the crisis in the education sector and the opening of school pre-enrollments could have led to public schools being disadvantaged in the choice, but the data does not show a negative impact; quite the contrary.

Families had to decide between a public or a state-subsidized center at a time when public school teachers had already called for two major demonstrations on November 15th and January 24th, and a general strike with slogans like "let's educate the future with resources from the past" to denounce the lack of staff in public education classrooms –and to demand a pay increase–. On the same day that pre-enrollments opened, USTEC submitted 50,000 signatures to the Parliament to demand the dignification of the profession. Furthermore, during the two weeks when pre-enrollment procedures could be completed, the failed negotiation between the Government and the majority of sector unions took placeand a new round of mobilizations was called for the week of March 16th to 20th.

Given this scenario, there was a possibility that more families would prioritize state-subsidized schools over public ones surrounded by crisis when making their choice. But this has not been the case. According to data accessed by ARA, in the pre-enrollments for the next academic year, the percentage of families who have requested admission to a public school or institute as their first choice has increased very slightly.

"It wasn't something that worried us because the teachers' strike was strongly supported by families. We don't believe there's a connection between the strike and the choice families might make," admits Lidón Gasull, director of AFFAC, which groups most AFA's in Catalonia. In fact, Gasull assures that the strike "will have a positive impact on educational centers because from now on, resources will be obtained."

If we focus on I3, for this school year 67.05% of families requested admission as their first option to a public school, a proportion that has grown by almost one point (67.92%) in pre-registrations for the next school year. A similar situation has occurred in the choice to start the secondary education stage. This year 87.48% of families put a public high school as their first option in pre-registration and for the next school year 87.54% of families have requested it.

However, although in the whole of Catalonia the majority of families prioritize public education, the proportion between those who request public or subsidized centers is highly variable depending on the territory and the educational stage. Furthermore, it should be taken into account that after four years of decline, requests to enter a subsidized school in early childhood education have risen for three consecutive years.

In the case of I3 pre-registrations, the difference between one territorial service and another can reach 35 points: the territories with the highest percentage of families requesting a public center as their first option are Terres de l'Ebre (85.5%), Alt Pirineu (83.6%), and Girona (81.2%); while the territories with less preference for public schools are Barcelona (50.2%), Barcelonès (56.9%), and Vallès Occidental (60.6%).

In the case of entry into ESO, the proportion of families attempting to enter a public high school skyrockets. In all territorial services (12) this proportion is over 70%. In most territories, nine out of ten families have requested their child to enter a public high school next year. Again, as was the case with entry into primary school at I3, the areas with the lowest percentage of first-option public school applications are Barcelona (71.6%), Barcelonès (83.3%), and Vallès Occidental (85.8%). However, in this difference between territories, the offer must be taken into account: for example, there are many fewer subsidized centers in Alt Pirineu than in the municipalities of the metropolitan area of Barcelona.

Not just out of conviction

The head of anti-school segregation policies at Equitat.org, Maria Segurola, warns that the weight of a family's "militancy" for one model or another when they have to choose a public or subsidized center is usually low. "Families that can are very strategic and make their preference list thinking about where they have a chance of getting in, and perhaps they put a public school as their first option and a subsidized one as their second because both are close to them," she exemplifies.

In this regard, the study Families facing school choice –published in 2010 by the Fundació Bofill– suggests that, in the case of families entering I3, the most important factors are proximity and the educational project. Specifically, 62% of families consider the proximity of the school to their home or work as one of the priority factors in choosing a center. 44.3% consider the educational project; 28% the presence of siblings in the center; 25% the facilities and equipment, 22.4% the possibility of completing secondary education at the same center, and 21% the fact that the school is publicly owned (21.1%).

On the other hand, one of the key points is the offer, since obviously, if families know that there isn't one, they won't try to get into one center or another. This is one of the aspects that explains why, in the case of ESO, applications to enter public schools skyrocket compared to I3. "When moving to secondary school, there are very few places in subsidized schools because they usually promote entire groups, and therefore, most of them are automatically filled," explains Segurola. Furthermore, when moving from primary to secondary, it must also be considered that many schools already have some affiliated institutes –both public and subsidized–, and it is most natural for most students in a group to end up in those centers.

The problem of oversupply

Finally, another of the factors that condition the choice is the problem of oversupply. In fact, in these pre-enrollments in Barcelona's schools, there are as many empty places as during the pandemic. To manage oversupply, lines must be closed, and the director of the AFFAC warns that the "preventive" closure of public school lines before pre-enrollment – in the case of subsidized schools, a group closes or not after the applications – harms public schools. "This year, adjustments have already been made in public schools, with a higher proportion than in subsidized schools, and we have not seen that the management of the demographic decline has been transferred to the resolution of subsidies, which is what should have been done," criticizes Gasull.