A look at school choice in Spain

Abstract

This paper looks at how school choice policies implemented by the Spanish government have functioned in practice. These changes, introduced in the educational system during the eighties, included the introduction of a right to enrol in any school funded by the public sector (public and private agreement schools) and the establishment of a system of finance where user choice directs government funds. The empirical research, focused on the Catalan community, shows how providing public subsidies to private schools in order to ensure choice has mostly benefited the middle classes. Payments for complementary and extracurricular activities, foundation contributions and uneven access to information among different social groups have minimised the shift of pupils from the public to the private agreement sector.