“You know that I was the one who had the fireplace redone,” says François Bayrou to Jean-Michel Blanquer when the latter arrived on rue de Grenelle, in 2017. “Thank you François. Thanks to you, I “I’ll be less cold in this big office”, the former minister retorts, recounting the scene in his book. The Citadel (Albin Michel, 2024), ironically tackling the one who has just been appointed Prime Minister: “I felt that he expected even greater recognition for such an accomplishment”. More recently, a year ago, the mayor of Pau almost returned to his large office at the Hôtel de Rochechouart and his warm fireplace. Once expected to become Minister of National Education in the Attal government, he himself put an end to this possibility on February 8, 2024, arguing “a difference of approach on the method to follow which [lui paraissait] crippling.” “I was convinced that we could turn around National Education in a few years, but that requires a political choice which is to do that with teachers and other school stakeholders,” explains- he says on France Info.
“Concertation” was Bayrou’s key word during his visit to rue de Grenelle between 1993 and 1997. For better… or for worse? Some, like high-ranking civil servant Bernard Toulemonde, who has worked in several ministerial offices, describe him as a “fine political fox” who “made short work of the Snes (Editor’s note: majority teachers’ union)” to buy a form of social peace. While Alain Boissinot, who was his advisor and then his director of high schools and colleges at the time, praises his ability to consult in all directions, the best way according to him to “appease the teaching environment and work in a much more serene way than in recent months. A glance in the rearview mirror and an examination of his method gives an idea of how Prime Minister François Bayrou could influence his future Minister of Education.
During the handover of power with Michel Barnier on December 13, the new head of government did not fail to raise the question of schools, which, he said, “I took care of for years and which has not has not ceased to be a fixed point in my life. “There is nothing surprising in him putting forward his only real ministerial experience [NDLR : François Bayrou fut aussi un éphémère ministre de la Justice en 2017]. A way of reminding us that he does not arrive without any knowledge”, notes Christian Chevalier, ex-secretary general of SE-Unsa. Another interesting signal, Nicolas Pernot, his newly appointed chief of staff, was his collaborator at the ministry of Education thirty years ago The fact that François Bayrou is himself a graduate of classics means that he will necessarily be attentive “not only to school but to the teaching condition”, according to Dominique Antoine, who also did so. part of his office at the time: “He has always played this card with the educational community to whom he essentially says: ‘I am one of you'”, continues the latter.
“A tremendous slap” has barely arrived
However, during his first steps on Rue de Grenelle, François Bayrou turned a section of teachers and public opinion against him by supporting the reform of the Falloux law, the text of which, dated 1850, prohibits local authorities from contributing more than 10% to the operating expenses of private middle and high schools under contract. The idea was to lift this measure to increase the subsidies allocated to them. But a large demonstration in defense of secular schools brought together 600,000 to 1 million people in the street and the attempt was cut short. “A tremendous slap in the face for François Bayrou. Commentators then predicted his political death,” remembers Bernard Toulemonde. The question of educational competition between the public and private sectors recently reactivated by left-wing elected officials remains a sensitive subject today. “I think that he will no longer risk it and that he will try to carefully avoid this question in the future,” says Christian Chevalier.
The former Minister of Education will learn the lessons of this episode by making social dialogue the prerequisite for any reform. “In September 1994, he proved his attachment to the principle of French secularism by publishing a circular on the ban on ostentatious religious symbols in educational establishments which paved the way for the 2004 law,” recalls Dominique Antoine. And its defenders also put to its credit a rewriting of the primary and middle school curricula, the establishment of an internship in a company for all 3rd grade students, the introduction of a modern language from elementary school and a second modern language from the 4th grade, the reform of preparatory classes for the grandes écoles or even the creation of the National Council for High School Life.
“As part of what he called his ‘new contract for the school’, I led under his direction a reform of the college in a spirit very different from Gabriel Attal’s ‘Clash of Knowledge’, less directive and much more respectful of the autonomy of establishments”, says Alain Boissinot. Setting up support courses, tutoring activities, interdisciplinary teaching… “We wanted to test these measures beforehand by going through an experimentation phase,” recalls Alain Boissinot. “A good way to circumvent any possible discontent from the field”, mock his detractors who evoke “a sword in the water” since Claude Allègre, who will take over in 1997, and whose “more muscular” method will be to the antipodes to that of Bayrou, will give priority to high schools.
François Bayrou’s position on need groups, one of the flagship measures announced by Gabriel Attal on December 5, 2023, is today eagerly awaited. On November 28, the Council of State considered that “such a reform must be the subject of a decree from the Prime Minister and not a simple order from the Minister of National Education” under penalty of being suspended. at the start of the 2025 school year. “But it is very likely that François Bayrou will want to give establishments the freedom to choose the organization they wish. He himself does not seem in favor of separating students into different groups by force,” underlines his close entourage. However, the former minister denounced in the past the principle of the single college, which he renamed “unfair college” in the program The Hour of Truth in 1993. “It turns out that there are a large number of students who cannot keep up and, shamefully in my eyes, what is the only answer we give them? We move them up from class to class class We do not succeed in making up for their difficulties (…) and these students are ultimately lost,” he argued at the time. Another issue that concerns the educational community: the cuts to teaching positions announced for the next school year. “There is no doubt that François Bayrou will look as favorably as possible on the National Education budget. But we all know that the current constraints are formidable,” continues Alain Boissinot.
Bernard Toulemonde, for his part, would not bet on in-depth reforms. “Let us remember that those in charge of Snes, at the time, had obtained from him the removal of all the reforms initiated by his predecessors Lionel Jospin and Jack Lang and which they did not like,” he insists. And the former rector cites as an example the “professional test” set up as part of the teacher competitions under Jospin and intended to evaluate the attitude of teachers and the way of communicating with students. “The unions were very opposed to it because the only thing that mattered to them was mastery of knowledge. François Bayrou therefore canceled it,” explains Bernard Toulemonde. Jean-Michel Blanquer also doesn’t hold back his punches in his book La Citadel. “Bayrou draws from this period the idea that he knows the teaching world better than anyone else,” he says. “His views are generally limited to advice for prudence. His vision of education thus meets his general political vision “Major principles are displayed, such as budgetary balance or the return of authority. But, as soon as we come to practical work, it is more a question of compromise, of pause or of exception.” To see if thirty years later, his view on education will have evolved and especially which minister he will choose for this position. The sixth in less than three years to sit by the fire in the office of the Rochechouart hotel.
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