France: Will Independent Parents Boost or Hinder Participation?

January 29, 2025—It is no surprise that many parents are looking to Scandinavian parenting as a model. The French educational system, which is centralized and hierarchical, has at times clashed with the various stakeholders involved—parents, teachers, administrators, and local authorities—contrasting sharply with the cooperative and compromise-driven image of the Scandinavian model.

The legal involvement of elected parents in school boards and governance dates back to the law of December 23, 1959, which focused on vocational and technical education, as well as agricultural education. The Federation of Student Parents' Councils (FCPE) was established as early as 1947. These historical milestones highlight the delays of a paternalistic State in adapting to more inclusive practices.

Since then, numerous legislative and regulatory reforms have expanded and strengthened parental participation, including Article L. 111-4 of the Education Code. This article introduces terms like "members of the educational community" and "co-educators" to refer to parents. It has undergone amendments (in 2000) and clarifications (noted in the Bulletin officiel n° 31 on August 31, 2006) over time. These amendments reflect changing realities and power dynamics, which were initially shaped by officially recognized federations.

However, independent parents have increasingly challenged this structure by forming their own lists for elections for the past fifteen years, some without going through an association. Two key developments characterize the most recent trends in parental participation regarding delegate elections, which serve as an important barometer for measuring this trend.

First-Degree Increasing Parental Participation

Parental participation in the elections for representatives to first-degree school boards has been steadily increasing over the past decade. Is this trend the result of independent lists being more receptive to state initiatives?

In contrast, participation in second-degree elections has been decreasing for a long time, although there has been a modest recovery in recent years. Could this recovery be linked to the rise of independent lists? What explanations can we propose for these developments?

Overall, these independent lists demonstrate a distrust towards the large federations, which are suspected of being politicized—subordinated to political parties—and of being arenas for internal power struggles and malpractices, particularly since they receive funding from the State. The history of parental associations reveals a pattern of fragmentation and a divide among stakeholders.

Progressive Developments

The Federation of Parents' Councils for Pupils (FCPE) was officially established on March 26, 1947, at the initiative of the National Union of Teachers (SNI) and the League of Education. Both organizations served as ex officio members of the FCPE's Board of Directors.

Their goal was to unite and help eradicate the remnants of the structured education system from the Petain era. Initially, the FCPE focused only on primary education and is classified as "left-leaning." In 1960, it began expanding into secondary education, and by 1971, the FCPE distanced itself from teachers. Representatives from both the SNI and the League transitioned from being ex officio members of the board to advisory capacities. By 1980, they were no longer invited unless relations remained cordial. The FCPE currently has a membership of approximately 1,200,000. Since 1968, a rival organization, the right-wing Federation of Parents of Public Education (PEEP), has emerged, participating in second-degree elections in 1968 and first-degree elections in 1977.

About 15 years ago, independent lists, referred to by the FCPE as "non-affiliated," began to appear in a sociological context characterized by a clear rejection of traditional structures and politics. These local and independent lists, which have become the majority in first-degree elections, are criticized by their predecessors for allegedly failing to recognize that educational issues extend beyond local concerns and require national coordination.

In response, some independent elected officials—who are challenging to categorize due to the lack of a unified spokesperson—assert that the decentralization laws of 1993 have changed the dynamics. They emphasize their established connections with local authorities, particularly in the regions, as well as with secondary schools, especially vocational high schools, where the  independent lists  are dominant (70%). They advocate for further decentralization by the state, particularly in the field of pedagogy, although the Ministry has deemed such competencies off-limits.