Different Models in Educational Regional Policies in Spain

Abstract

The paper aims to analyze the processes of design and formulation of secondary educational policies in three autonomous communities of Spain, in a context of uncertainty and ambiguity. The paper is the result of an ongoing research project which aims to identify and analyze the inequalities that impact the citizens of three significant autonomous communities (the Basque Country, Andalusia and the region of Madrid) as a result of public policy choices of their political leaders. We describe the different educational models developed by three Spanish regional governments within the same national legal framework. In 2006, this framework created a window of opportunities to develop different educational policies, which the three regional governments have been using differently, taking into account: a). when the regional government had jurisdiction over the management of secondary education; b). the environment of budgetary restrictions; c). the different types of parliamentary majorities and government. Finally, we compare and analyze what policy options these regional governments had and why they made their respective decisions on the secondary education model.