Challenging Provisions in the School Inclusion Law in Chile

• In Event: 77.013 - The Threat to Public Education From the Political Right in the Americas: Trump, Bolsonaro, Pinera, and Macri

Abstract

There is robust evidence on the adverse effects of school segregation (Orfield, Kicsera, & Siegel-Hawley, 2012, cited in Valenzuela and Montecinos, 2017). Although Chile has an intermediate ranking on international measures of inequality in educational opportunities, it is one of the countries where students’ socioeconomic background is highly predictive of students' educational attainment (OECD, 2013). This situation has been linked to policies that have promoted a market model centered around school choice, expansion of for-profit private providers, and school practices to select students based on their academic record and families’ ability to pay (Carrasco, Flores, San Martin, & Gutierrez, 2013). Structural reforms implemented during the presidency of Michelle Bachelet and her New Majority coalition (2014–2018) sought to reverse the high levels of social segregation and inequity in the Chilean school system. The Law for School Inclusion approved, in May 2015, affirms parental choice and increases the state subsidy to low-income students and schools serving high proportions of low-income families. Additionally, this law places restrictions on providers with respect to financial matters as well selection practices. In this presentation we will first explain the antecedents to the School Inclusion Law, key provisions to reverse segregation and inequity. Next, we analyze a law proposal sent to the legislature by the current center right governing coalition that challenges these provisions by reintroducing selectivity.

Authors

• Carmen Montecinos, Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso

• Gonzalo Muñoz, Universidad Diego Portales