The battle for public school is fought also against the advance of the concerted one

PalmaThe educational community views with concern the growing weight of charter schools in the Government's educational policy. The family federation FAPA Mallorca makes the most forceful criticism of it. Its president, Xavier Ferriol, asserts that the Executive has “a very marked line, which is the privatization of education” and cites as examples the new charter lines for Baccalaureate and 0-3 years and the charter decree, which, he claims, “shields charter schools.” He also denounces that, while the drop in birth rates allows for the reduction of lines in public schools, the Government creates charter ones.

Vicenç Garcia, from STEI, agrees in demanding that the public network be the priority, while still defending the continuity of the charter schools. “Charter schools are necessary, yes. But investment must always be in favor of public schools, not charter ones,” he states. The union believes that the charter sector should have a complementary role and proposes that, in the long term, its professionals be incorporated into the public network, as it leaves positions vacant due to the retirement of its teachers.

The charter sector demands stability

Educational cooperatives, on the other hand, defend the current model. Kiko López, president of the UCTAIB Education sector, recalls that there are "two schooling paths, the public and the charter" and demands that charter centers be able to maintain their educational projects. According to López, a charter cooperative can end up schooling 8,000 students and needs years of stability to develop its project.

The debate leaves two opposing visions: while FAPA warns of a clear drift towards privatization and the STEI demands prioritizing the public one without disparaging the charter one, the cooperatives claim the coexistence of both networks.