parents condemn the State

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A decision that could give ideas to some…The Paris administrative court ordered the State to compensate the parents of three former students of the Marie-Curie collegein the 18th arrondissement of Paris, for the “harm” suffered by children due to the high volume of lesson hours not provided during the 2021-2022 school year.

“National Education has failed in its obligations”

The increase in absences of unreplaced teachers led these parents to take legal action to obtain compensation: they demanded that the State be ordered to pay them 1,410 euros and 2,240 euros respectively. National Education had, according to them, failed in its “constitutional and legal obligation” to ensure “the teaching of all compulsory subjects included in the teaching programs according to the legally prescribed timetables”.

A 6th grade student had missed 101 hours of lessons, according to his father's count; the mother of a 5th grade student counted 91, while that of a 4th grade schoolgirl counted 174.

The mother of the 5th grade schoolboy had initially sent “a request for communication of probative elements” to the Ministry of National Education, but the latter had “not deigned to respond”. “If he intended to contest the number of hours of lessons not provided, the rector could only do so by producing the official statistics” which she requested, she deduced. She therefore calculated the “direct and certain” damage suffered by her child as a result of this “significant delay” in his learning at 10 euros per hour of absence.

The rector of Paris minimizes

For her part, she considered having suffered “moral damage” resulting from the “frustrations and concerns generated”. The mothers of the two middle school students also stressed the obligation to reorganize their schedule, particularly professional, often at the last minute, after being informed of the absence of teachers “that very morning”. They both had recourse to a private teacher, or even, for the first, to registration “on an online learning platform in order to limit the gaps accumulated by the child”.

The Paris Academy, for its part, contested the very principle of the State's condemnation since, according to it, the hours of absence had been “of very short duration” and had presented “a pearly and unpredictable character”.

“The administration has carried out all the due diligence required to find solutions, in particular by publishing advertisements for the recruitment of contract teachers,” added the rectorate, which therefore concluded that the alleged damages were “not established.”

But “the general interest teaching mission entrusted to it imposes on the minister responsible for education the legal obligation to ensure the teaching of all compulsory subjects included in the teaching programs”, begins by reframing the administrative court of Paris in three decisions dated September 17, 2024 and which have just been made public. “Failure to comply with this legal obligation (…) constitutes a fault capable of incurring the liability of the State. »

The State has indeed made a mistake

The 5th grade student had thus missed “91 hours of compulsory teaching” since the rectorate counted “73” but without producing “the slightest piece of evidence which would contradict these allegations”, underlines the Paris administrative court.

The 4th grade student had missed “14 hours of mathematics, 9 hours of history-geography, 25 hours of English, 22 hours of Spanish, 7 hours of life and earth sciences, 5 hours of physics and chemistry, 14 hours of physical and sports education and 24 hours of musical education.

In all cases, “in view of the significant number of hours of absences”, the State has indeed committed “an error in the organization of the public service” such as to “incur its liability”. These children “necessarily fell behind” in their teaching, the judges also confirmed, despite what the rector of the Paris academy maintained. The father of the 6th grade student will therefore receive 820 euros, the mother of the 5th grade student 910 euros and the mother of the 4th grade student 1,360 euros.

On the other hand, the Parisian judges dismissed the “personal prejudice” invoked by the parents in their personal name. The State will, however, have to pay them 700 euros each for their legal costs.

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