The Senate shattered, during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, the promise of Prime Minister François Bayrou to return to the 4,000 job cuts in National Education, which had become one of the central elements of the agreement non-censorship passed between the new executive and the socialists. The credits allocated to National Education having already been discussed and voted on in the Senate before the censorship and interruption of parliamentary work at the beginning of December, the government therefore requested, as authorized by the legislative process, a second deliberation on this part of the budget, in order to include an amendment enhancing the employment plan of the Ministry of National Education compared to the initial text presented under Michel Barnier.
But that was without taking into account the LR and the centrists, the majority in the Senate, who had little taste for seeing the financial balances already voted on upset in this way. “If these jobs are filled, this represents an expenditure of 150 million euros, that is not the thickness of the line,” noted the general budget rapporteur, Jean-François Husson (LR).
“We are told that we must reduce the number of public jobs, and here we are asking for a significant increase, in contradiction of a unanimous vote before the suspension of our work for censorship,” this elected official further annoyed. In fact, the different political groups in the Senate agreed on December 2 to finally limit this reduction from 4,000 to 2,000 positions. “This unanimous vote had, it seems to me, the advantage of taking into account the evolution of demography, a significant decline which will accelerate in the coming years with a drop of 6% in the population, this which has consequences on the workforce. I think it is good policy to plan and support the territories, but also to adapt the number of teachers responsibly. »
A blur between teaching positions and administrative positions
National Education remains by far the largest employer in the State, with 1.07 million jobs, followed by the Ministry of the Interior (298,000 positions), then that of the Armed Forces and Veterans (271,000). positions). ” Finally ! The government has tackled the problem of education head on and considers that today, particularly in our rural territories, we need teachers in front of our students,” greeted socialist Thierry Cozic.
Stéphane Sautarel, LR vice-president of the finance committee, deplored a lack of details on the breakdown of positions. “This ministry is not capable of managing the difference between the civil servants who are in front of the students and the civil servants who carry out the administrative administration. And so, we cannot ensure that positions in front of students are not eliminated when we have cuts to assume responsibility,” he got annoyed.
-A concern also shared by Cécile Cukierman, leader of the Senate communists, even if her group supported the restoration of these positions. “The real question is: whether or not we have 4,000 teaching positions? “, she asked. “That is to say, from individuals learning to students in a class, or are we based on calculations which mean that we are out of 2,000 adults in front of children and for the rest a redistribution of positions for things that are just as important in National Education but which will mean that, ultimately, we will not have 4,000 teachers in front of our children tomorrow? »
The creation of 924 positions for justice also canceled
The government's amendment was largely rejected, by 184 votes (136 votes in favor and 21 abstentions). The members of the group Les Indépendants, which brings together support for Edouard Philippe in the Senate, have chosen to abstain. At the same time, the senatorial right also gave up on the creation of 924 positions for the Ministry of Justice, also supported by this amendment. “On the one hand you are targeting education, but I don’t hear you on the 924 justice posts…” Thierry Cozic addressed the rapporteur.
Senators completed consideration of the budget around 2:40 a.m. The entire finance bill for 2025 must still be the subject of a solemn vote this Thursday, January 23. In all likelihood, it should be adopted thanks to the right-centrist alliance which dominates the Upper House and supports the spending reduction objective stated by the executive. However, many modifications could still be made on January 30 in the joint committee (CMP), a meeting of seven senators and seven deputies responsible for developing a compromise version of the text between the two chambers of Parliament. On this occasion, the left should not fail to put the job cuts back into negotiation.
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