On a viral publication relayed on Twitter, a user estimates that in Ile-de-France, there would be 4.6 times more money given to private high schools than to the public.
This would be linked to the new calculation of the amount of global operating grants for high schools (DGFL).
However, the Region considers that this is “a lack of understanding” on the part of the opposition and the unions.
After public transport, Valérie Pécresse must now manage a new file: that of high schools.
On Twitter, this Sunday, the year began with a publication of the strangest.
“For the first time in history, Valérie Pécresse gave more money to the 210 private high schools in Ile-de-France than to the 414 public high schools.
The endowment per pupil is 156 euros in the public against 725 euros in the private sector, that is to say more than 4.6 times more money for the children of the bourgeois than for those of the populo”, estimates a former school principal.
Liked more than 2,000 times since, the publication does not contain a source, but seems to quote the Twitter thread published on December 29 by a regional councilor of the French Communist Party (PCF), Céline Malaisé.
According to her, the right would be setting up "a real robbery of their coffers".
The cause ?
The vote of the regional allocation paid to public high schools for their operation.
20 Minutes
returns to this novelty, not so new according to the Region.
🚨🏢 You all know Pécresse's responsibility in the transport struggle but do you know his decisions against public high schools and their students?
A look back at decisions made in 2022
⬇️ pic.twitter.com/AKkSjYw4XB
— Celine Malaisé (@CelineMalaise) December 29, 2022
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For Céline Malaisé, as for many elected representatives of the left and many unions, the drop in general grants for the operation of high schools (DGFL) is not acceptable.
“The right decides to puncture the treasuries of public high schools beyond the equivalent of three months of the annual allocation within the limit of a puncture of 50% per year”, explains in his Twitter thread the elected communist.
According to her, 17 million euros would have been saved by the Region "at the expense of public high schools".
“Result: for the first time since decentralization the regional allocation to public high schools is lower than that of private high schools (day school package): 65.5 million euros against 69 million euros”, she calculates .
"A lie", according to the executive
Let's face it, this story of endowments is not the easiest to understand.
We therefore interviewed James Chéron, vice-president (UDI) of Ile-de-France in charge of high schools.
“It is a lie to explain that the Region invests less and devotes fewer resources to public high schools than to private high schools”, defends the elected official from the outset.
According to the executive, the new method of calculation was actually defined in 2021 for the following years.
“The new method of calculation had been built to take into account the educational criteria as defined by the National Education.
These are, for example, social criteria, such as the Social Positioning Index (IPS),” explains James Chéron.
No change for 2023
Okay, but what is the use of a block grant in a high school?
As simply as possible, these are resources allocated by local authorities to ensure the proper functioning of an establishment.
They are used in particular for the maintenance of buildings, for example for works, or for educational activities such as trips.
But James Chéron insists, "nothing has changed in 2023".
On the contrary, the endowments would have even increased to take into account “economic circumstances”, in particular inflation and the energy crisis.
“We have also taken into account, as we do every year, demographic changes.
This is not true for establishments, but overall we have seen an increase in the number of students, therefore an increase in overall operating grants”.
The regional exception
In the other communities, James Chéron explains that block grants are calculated by reducing the sum remaining from the previous year.
This is no longer the case within the Ile-de-France Region.
“That does not mean that we give less, it means that the means that we allocate which are increasing are really allocated while taking into account the real state of the cash”, underlines the elected UDI.
From now on, the new method of calculation takes working capital into account.
Roughly, it is the savings of high schools, kept in case of a glitch.
“The region believes that some establishments have too much working capital.
It therefore decided that those who have funds whose amounts are greater than more than three months of operating expenses would be capped, ”explained Sébastien Volpoët, coordinator of SNPDEN-UNSA in Ile-de-France, to the Parisian.
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Savings in trouble
This would explain the savings of 17 million euros, pointed out by the opposition.
This would not be a false figure, according to the Region: “It is the amount of the calculated allocation which is not paid directly because it is already in the accounts of the establishments.
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According to James Chéron, the opposition and the unions are on the wrong track in believing that these savings could have been used for investments in the months to come.
“There are board meetings every quarter in the establishments.
When a manager pilots an educational project, he foresees an expense.
Its expenditure has not yet been made, but it is no longer affected, ”underlines the elected official.
However, the Region promises to resolve on a case-by-case basis if ever financial difficulties were encountered by the establishments.
Regulatory allocations for the private sector
How do you respond to this comparison with private establishments?
In reality, the budget sent to secondary schools is not really decided by the Region.
“We don't decide anything on the day school packages that come under the Education Code.
We multiply by the number of students and basta, ”slices the elected official.
Unlike public high schools, it is therefore a compulsory regulatory endowment which results from an automatic calculation.
This sum is indeed 69 million euros, as estimated by Céline Malaisé.
However, according to the Region, the DGFL cannot be the only amount taken into account to estimate the money allocated to public high schools.
“There is a lack of understanding”, regrets James Chéron.
“For public establishments, we have a DGFL which has been calculated at 83 million euros.
Whatever happens, we have 16 million euros that we add to this gross calculation for the mandatory maintenance contracts, which gives us a theoretical total of almost 100 million euros”.
Before concluding: “The context of the means devoted by the Region to high schools is a pinpoint in the high school budget, which is, in all, 1.182 billion euros in Ile-de-France.
»
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Paris
Ile-de-France
Transportation
Region
Valerie Pécresse
High school
Education
National Education
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