Hairy Armpits and Everything

Kevin's already given his take on the French union and student protests over proposed labor law changes that would make it easier for companies to fire or lay off workers under 26 in their first two years of employment. But it occurred to me that these protests also reflect some of the same problems that make progressive policy change difficult in American public education.

Bear with me: French politicos didn't just wake up one morning and decide, "hey, let's make it easier to fire young workers." France has a very high unemployment rate among younger workers--about 25 percent--and it's even higher for disadvantaged groups, such as those of North African and Muslim descent, as last November's riots highlighted. French policymakers hope that making it easier to fire or lay off young workers will help lower unemployment rates for them.

I'm not an economist, so I have no opinion about whether or not the proposed changes would lower unemployment, but if they did, they would have an enormous benefit for individuals who got jobs as a result, as well as a broader positive economic impact. But for the 3/4 of young French workers who are employed, the unions who represent them, and students who expect soon to join their ranks, these social benefits come at a cost of increased risk. So these groups seek to block change.

This strikes me as terribly similar to something that often happens here in public education. A lot of reforms seek to improve educational results for poor and minority students. Improving educational results--and, by extension, other outcomes--for these youngsters would also have broader social benefits. But many reforms--such as those that target resources to high-need schools, increase choice, or seek to enhance racial and socioeconomic integration--also threaten a status quo that works well for many people: not just established education interests, but also middle-class and affluent parents who've used their economic power to get their children into "good" neighborhoods and public schools. As Ted and Nancy Sizer comment in a recent Education Sector interview, affluent parents who've already made--and paid for--their choice of schools when purchasing a home tend to resist charter schools, vouchers, and other forms of school choice.

Part of the problem, both here and in France, is that those who are well-served by the status-quo tend to have more political and social capital and ability to block change than those who aren't. In addition, since those who would benefit from a potential change are often a somewhat hypothetical or unclearly defined group, they have less incentive to organize than those might lose something from the change. That can make education policy frustrating sometimes, but it's also part of what makes it worth doing.

Totally Gratutitous Marginally Related Note: Speaking of France, this week Pearls Before Swine, one of the few comics that regularly makes me laugh out loud, features a storyline involving French women with hairy armpits.