Should schools be able to choose their teachers?

BarcelonaIf a company can choose its employees, should schools be able to choose their teachers? This seemingly simple question is often asked whenever poor educational results are made public, but there are a multitude of factors behind it that mean the answer necessarily has to go far beyond a simple yes or no. In this sense, the integration of teachers and the management of places in the Catalan public education system is an anomaly, both throughout the country and in much of Europe and the United States. However, the truth is that the criteria surrounding schools' decision-making power vary greatly, depending on the autonomous community or country.

"At the state level, Catalonia is an exception," says Sheila González, a researcher on educational inequality at the University of Barcelona (UB), who is carrying out a project on the differences in the management of teaching staff depending on the region. "In Spain, in general, the provision of teachers follows a classic civil service model, which means they depend on scores and lists," describes González, who also clarifies that, unlike in Catalonia, in the Spanish teacher pool you must have applied—but not passed—for the competitive examinations at least once to be eligible.

Beyond the fact that to enter the Catalan education system as a temporary teacher, you only need to have a degree and, in the case of secondary school, a commitment to earn a master's degree, there is another difference between how it works in Catalonia and the rest of the country: in Catalonia, there is a small margin for school and high school principals to choose certain teachers.

Decree on staffing levels

This possibility, which is nonexistent in the rest of Spain but is applied in other countries, has so far been realized in Catalonia through the staffing decree. Broadly speaking, this decree, approved a decade ago, allows management to create some positions tailored to the needs of the school and, through interviews with candidates who meet these requirements, select the most suitable one.

However, although the decree has been harshly criticized by unions for encouraging nepotism, in practical terms, less than 15% of teaching positions are tailored. In fact, last year, the Education Department froze the option of creating new teaching positions of this type to avoid further disruption in teacher turnover with the arrival of many new civil servants. Therefore, the last time tailored positions could be created—with the exception of specific cases such as newly created centers and adult education centers—was the 2023-24 academic year. As verified by the ARA through the Government's open data portal, that year the proportion of qualified teaching staff was only 12.1%.

With these places out of the question, this year, for the first time in a long time, the only way for a school or institute director to select a teacher is the following: if a teacher who fits the project has been selected through the lists at the school, they can make a proposal to continue at that school so that when the next allocations are made.

Concerted network

In Catalonia, almost 30% of schools and high schools are subsidized, and in the subsidized network, the management of teaching positions is completely different. In fact, it works the same as any company: unlike in the public system, teachers are not registered on any list or pool, but can access classrooms through a job interview, and therefore, the decision-making power of the principals is almost absolute. "In subsidized schools, we have the possibility of carrying out selection processes and, within the criteria established by Education, seeking the most suitable teacher for the school project," argues Manel Salas, head of the pedagogy and innovation department at the Vedruna Foundation.

According to Salas, "it is essential to be able to choose teachers because each school is different and has specific needs." And she points out that this selection also provides two positive factors: "If you've chosen a teacher who's a good fit, in the long run you consolidate positions and have more stable teaching staff. And, at the same time, since you know they'll stay, you can organize paths for them to continue training throughout their careers."

Anna Jolonch, a doctor in educational sciences specializing in educational leadership, also defends the possibility of choosing teachers. She warns that it's a "structural factor that disadvantages public schools compared to private schools": "A leader can't build a quality school if they start over every September with a different team. We need this autonomy and stability."

Now, just as this stability is encouraged, as in all companies and unlike what happens in the public system, if a teacher doesn't fit in with the center, they can also lose their job. However, the head of the Vedruna Foundation also raises the fact that this dynamic allows the teacher's work to be evaluated. "It doesn't have to be an oversight process, but it's good for the principal to sit down with the teacher every year to find out what's going well and what's not, so both the teacher and the school can improve," he insists.

How is it done in other countries?

Just as the same system doesn't exist across the different territories of the Spanish state, teacher management also varies from country to country. There are systems like the United States, the Nordic countries, or England where schools have complete autonomy in staff selection. However, in other territories, different models exist. According to the report Equity in school education According to Eurydice, only in one-third of all European education systems do schools have full authority over human resources management, while in most countries, responsibility is shared—in varying proportions—between schools and institutions. On the other hand, there are southern European countries, such as France, Italy, and Spain, where the system is entirely centralized.

But not everything is black and white: there are also shades of gray, as in the case of Portugal, where teachers do not depend on the school or a central institution, but rather move according to the needs of a specific area, which can be a municipality or province. Each area has its own pool depending on the needs of its schools. In this way, the school decides, based on the resources in its area, what type of professional to request to fit its educational project.

Finally, there are also cases like those of Bulgaria, Estonia, Slovakia, and Serbia, where the appointment and dismissal of teachers is the exclusive responsibility of the schools, but determining the roles and responsibilities of each teacher is the responsibility of the administration. Although Catalonia is far from reaching this point, for years associations such as Clam Educatiu, the Bofill Foundation, and school principals have been demanding that school and college management teams have greater decision-making power over the profiles that make up their teaching staff. This option, according to Jolonch, is already contemplated in the Catalan Education Law (LEC), but which "requires political will." "It would take courage to change the civil service law, which is the eternal elephant in the room," he concludes.