The difficult transformation of a forced constitutional agreement into actual government policy. The Democratic Centre Union and its defunct Law on the Statute of Schools (LOECE) of 1980

<p>Under Franco’s Regime, private education, which was managed almost<br />completely by the church, underwent considerable development in comparison<br />to public education. With the arrival of democracy, the conservatives were willing<br />to concede to some minimal changes, whereas the progressives had big reforms in<br />mind. It is because of this that education was one of the most complicated topics<br />to reach an agreement upon in the Constitution of 1978. In order to achieve a<br />consensus, Article 27 was drafted in a way which allowed both conservatives and<br />progressives to develop their educational policies in keeping with their ideology.<br />The Law of Schools (LOECE) of 1980 was the first law regulating education<br />in accordance with the Constitution. In passing this law, the Government of<br />Adolfo Suarez, with the support of Manuel Fraga’s conservative party, Alianza<br />Popular, and the regional nationalist right-wing parties, imposed its ideology<br />favouring private education. When the groups from the left saw their proposals<br />rejected they filed a complaint before the Constitutional Court, which in fact<br />declared void some of the most important articles contained in the law.<br />The basic consensus achieved during the drafting of the Constitution has not<br />prevented important disagreements from arising afterwards. As a result, with<br />every change of government there is also a change in the laws and in the way<br />educational policies are developed.