2015/6/19

Bureaucrats and Educators: The
Governance of Basic Education in Mexico
Carlos Ornelas
Professor of Education and Communications
Autonomous Metropolitan University, Mexico City
Visiting professor at the Center for the Study of International
Cooperation and Education
Hiroshima University
May 29, 2014

The National Teachers Union

The Mexican corporatist system
SNTE, founded by the state, not the workers
Strong Leadership

Corporatism, Philippe Schmitter
Corporatism can be defined as a system of interest representation inwhich the constituent units are organized into a limited number ofsingular, compulsory, noncompetitive, hierarchically ordered andfunctionally differentiated categories, recognized or licensed (if notcreated) by the state and granted a deliberate representationalmonopoly within their respective categories in exchange forobserving certain controls on their selection of leaders andarticulation of demands and supports.
Schmitter, Philippe C.1974. Still the Century of Corporatism? The
Review of Politics, 36, 1: 85-131.

1

2015/6/19

SNTE’s Corporatist Features
Compulsory
Noncompetitive
Hierarchically ordered
Functionally differentiated categories
Ruled by strong groups and caciques (peculiarity)

Launching Ceremony
Founded in December 1943; official recognition, March 1944

Jesús RoblesMartínez
First labor boss ofSNTE

Carlos Jonguitud
Barrios

General secretary 1949-1952

General secretary 1972-1975

Strong man (cacique) 1949-1972

Cacique 1975-1989 (Revolutionary
Vanguard of Teachers )22015/6/19

The power and the Authority

Elba Esther
Gordillo
1989-2013
General secretary, 1989, 1994.
Cacique, 1995-2013

Colonization
In early 1950’s SNTE’s leadership designed a long term strategy to colonize
the bureaucratic structures of basic education

1946 School principals



1951-1954 Inspectors and sector heads

1955-1964 All director generals in the states; Undersecratariat forelemental education



1993… most secretaries of education in the states

2006-2012 the jewel of the Crown, the Undersecretariat for basic education(the son-in-law of Ms. Gordillo)

From teacher to functionary
Ideal traits of the professional bureaucrat

Weber• Knowledge of their field• Commitment to their work

Otherauthors• Dedication to service• Punctuality

Legal• Proper treatment to citizens• Respect for the law and loyalty to the institution

3

2015/6/19

Supremacy of SNTE cadres on thegovernance of basic education
SEPStates

The Peña Nieto Administration began
a decolonization of the Federal
Department of Public Education, inDecember 2012.

The secretaries of education of 20
states were product of “negotiations”
between Ms. Gordillo and thegovernor of the state.

Nowadays if somebody loyal to SNTE
still is there, is invisible.

Most of the undersecretaries for basic
education are SNTE cadres.



Most of the functionaries are teachers
by training, most of them with higher
degrees

Conclusion

The colonization
process tookdecades

The decolonization
may take years

The outcome ofcolonization

Paying debts

Decolonize will create
political problems

The principal aim of the Peña Nieto education reform is
to recover the control of basic education governance42015/6/19

Enrolments before and after the 1992 Agreement
16,000,000

14,000,000

12,000,000

10,000,000

8,000,000

6,000,000

4,000,000

2,000,000

0
1991

1992

SUM

1991

FEDERAL

1992

SUM

STATES
Teacher colleges

Junior highPrimaryPreschool

5