Autonomie et modes de régulation locale dans le système éducatif

With this text I intend to analyse the changes that were and are being introduced, in different countries, as a way of political regulation of the education system. These changes are to be seen as resulting from the reinforcement of local administration and public school autonomy. Therefore, I will firstly present a short characterization of the most important steps which have been taken in this area as well as of the assumptions and objectives which gave rise to them. Within the framework of critical sociology, I will next focus on some crucial items which have brought about a challenge to those policies, namely in what concern their rhetorical character and the unsuitabilitv of the "market model" applied to public action in education. Finally I will propose a model to describe ana analyse the ways of monitoring and regulation of local education concerning the reinforcement of school autonomy.