At the Sully middle school in Rosny-sur-Seine (Yvelines)—located a few kilometers from Mantes-la-Jolie in a particularly challenging environment—violent incidents sparked a three-day protest movement. While this movement did not result in a clear-cut victory regarding resources or a fundamental overhaul of the school's operations, it did succeed in strengthening the teaching staff's solidarity and provided valuable insights into current local mobilization efforts within the French public education system.
Context and TriggerSully Middle School serves a working-class suburb in the Seine Valley, situated between Mantes-la-Jolie and Normandy in a peri-urban area marked by the decline of the automotive industry (specifically the Renault Flins plant and its various local subcontractors). Although its student demographics are similar to those of neighboring schools serving the Val-Fourré estate in Mantes-la-Jolie, it does not benefit from "Priority Education Network" (REP) status or the associated extra resources—such as smaller class sizes, dedicated staff collaboration time, and higher staffing ratios.
For several years, staff have been raising the alarm about deteriorating study and working conditions and requesting additional resources, using both institutional channels (school board meetings, requests for hearings with the local education authority/DSDEN—including one in April) and union channels (letters to the administration, alerts raised in official bodies, and participation in national or local strike days). Much like similar situations elsewhere in the region and across France, this state of affairs failed to elicit a response from the administration, which consistently cited budgetary constraints—even as incidents of staff sick leave, verbal and physical violence (both between students and directed at staff), student absenteeism, and declining academic performance were all on the rise. On Monday, June 8, 2026, the school opened despite the absence of a large number of supervisors; several fights broke out among students, culminating during the afternoon recess. "Colleagues who stepped in to help were powerless against a group of several hundred out-of-control students. Some staff members trying to separate the students were hit by stray blows (2)," and several subsequently filed workplace injury reports.
After the school administration ordered an emergency evacuation of the students, the clashes continued outside the school grounds. Amidst an already tense atmosphere, the intervention of the municipal police triggered a stampede, scattering students toward the town center; there, a 14-year-old student from the school was mobbed and beaten by about thirty other students (resulting in a medical assessment of six days of total incapacity for work)—an incident to be added to the list of other students injured earlier that day...
Chronology of the dispute
These events, rapidly circulated via social media and the local press, naturally caused great alarm among students, families, and school staff. The staff agreed that resuming classes was impossible under these conditions. On Tuesday the 9th, a general meeting held in the morning resulted in a vote to strike. The DAASEN (3) and a technical advisor were urgently dispatched to the school, but their interventions—offering absolutely no solutions for either the immediate crisis or the underlying issues—only added fuel to the fire. Contact was made with elected parent representatives, who hastily organized a "dead school" day (4) for the following day. On Wednesday the 10th, the strike was voted for again, along with a decision to extend it to the next day. A request for a meeting with the DSDEN was submitted, and a press release was drafted. The local press is on hand, focusing far more on the sensationalist angle than on the actual struggle.
The movement culminates the following day with another highly successful "dead school" day, a joint barbecue for staff and parents, and a personal visit from the DASEN—a rare occurrence, signaling the intensity of the media pressure and the strength of the leverage exerted. The delegation meets with officials and secures an agreement for reduced class sizes through the end of the school year—to limit crowding—and a half-time supervisory position. However, the additional half-time CPE (educational advisor) position remains uncertain, while academic support for struggling students and the school’s reclassification as a REP/REP+ (priority education zone) are ruled out. Parent representatives are also granted a meeting. The general assembly then votes—though not unanimously—to end the protest.
The "dead school" day: a "strike" by proxy?
Above all, once the emotions surrounding Monday’s events have subsided, what will likely leave a lasting impression is the way the struggle suspended the daily routine, strengthened the collective spirit among staff, and fostered shared moments of both joy and anger. Ties with parents (and not just those serving as elected representatives) were strengthened—a significant development in a school where the relationship had historically been somewhat distant, and recently even contentious with certain families. This reflects, among other things, the defensive, insular stance of a beleaguered profession on the one hand, and the shift toward a utilitarian, consumerist view of schooling—fueled by recent reforms—on the other: career placement viewed as the school’s ultimate goal in a saturated training market, and the erosion of knowledge transmission caused by digital tools and the transformation of schools into mere daycare centers (a trend starkly visible since the Covid pandemic). We can therefore be pleased that the seeds of a worker-parent coalition have been sown; these bonds must be sustained to keep pressure on the administration, which may think twice before targeting us again in the future.
That said, questions arose regarding the respective roles played by parent-led actions (such as the "dead school" protest) and staff actions (strikes). Many teachers and special needs assistants (AESH) were reluctant to strike—citing potential loss of income—even though a strike fund and clear union support were available. This hesitation naturally led to a situation where parents took the lead in effectively "shutting down" the school by keeping their children at home. It is often said that parental actions intimidate the administration more than worker actions do; while this mantra holds some truth in an era of instant information-sharing among parents via social media—and the resulting bandwagon effect—it primarily serves to demotivate the staff. In reality, when the actions of various groups are carried out strategically, they reinforce one another, demonstrating unity and a determination to go the distance; above all, they complement each other to maintain constant pressure, while also helping to break down the utilitarian and sectoral divisions that undermine us.
A strike against striking?
Furthermore, arguments that pin the blame for the middle school’s dysfunctions on individuals (however real their faults may be)—rather than on the employer’s failings—have a demobilizing effect on the struggle (the attitude being: "It’s not my fault, so I’m not going to lose money trying to fix these problems"). That is obviously not how a power struggle works; the administration will always prefer to seek out individual scapegoats rather than repair the landscape it has sabotaged through understaffing, reforms, and a system that functions as a mechanism for social sorting.
Finally, it is common in such cases to flip the script regarding responsibility for the strike. Since the strike is viewed as legitimate—precipitated by the institution's shortcomings—strikers often demand that a return to work be conditional on strike days being paid. In this instance, however, that proposal was dismissed; the concept of the strike as a tool for sustained struggle has lost ground, giving way to the idea of the strike as merely a symbolic protest—a notion instilled in the teaching staff over the years by woefully tepid union mobilizations and, above all, by the lack of any significant recent victories won through this method.
Politicization and the balance of power
The Ministry has thus succeeded—in tandem with major unions that are hemorrhaging members, activists, and legitimacy—in eroding confidence in our collective strength. For instance, the demand to be included in the REP (Priority Education Network) list of schools—a list whose revision, though necessary, has been frozen since 2015 (7)—runs up against the looming presidential election, a lack of funding, and the systematic dismantling of the associated resources, as the label no longer affords the same protection it once did. Major obstacles to large-scale mobilization include the immense struggle required to secure anything more than crumbs—given the Ministry’s refusal to yield (fearing it might trigger a wave of copycat protests)—as well as the inability to devise effective forms of action, the shift toward contractual employment and job insecurity within the profession, and the decline of political engagement among teachers (8).
Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that the DASEN (local education authority director) managed to sell the meager concessions won by the mobilized staff—framed as "a response to the middle school's educational community for both the short and medium-to-long term" (9)—to the delegation, parents, and some of their colleagues.
Beyond the administration's skillful maneuvers to douse the fire that was raging just hours earlier, another limitation of current movements warrants examination. Deteriorating working and teaching conditions—characterized by overcrowded, unruly classrooms—drive beleaguered teachers to steer students who are disengaged from the academic system (read: those from working-class backgrounds) toward dead-end educational tracks and to demand harsh penalties for "troublemakers," even within the framework of the movement's own demands. When combined with the rhetoric of parents of high-achieving students—who point the finger at the same culprits—this creates fertile ground for a school system that further reinforces its role in social sorting, its collaboration with the police (or the military), and the stigmatization of specific groups of students.
To break these entrenched trends and the resulting defeatism, a broad-based movement involving staff, students, and families appears necessary—a movement that begins by defending the capitalist school system but ultimately challenges its very functioning, ensuring that the divisions inherent to that system are not replicated within the struggle itself. Local struggles, such as the one at the Sully middle school, offer opportunities to strengthen collective action rooted in solidarity with all staff (both precarious and tenured) and all students. The struggle against the capitalist school system is waged through the school of struggle. A teacher taking a stand
Notes
(1) Departmental Directorate of National Education Services
(2) Press release from the middle school staff and families, June 10, 2026
(3) Deputy Academic Director of Departmental National Education Services; the number two official for National Education in the department, deputy to the DASEN (number one), who in turn takes orders from the regional education authority head (*recteur d'académie*)
(4) Parents are asked not to send their child to school
(5) Senior Education Advisor (*Conseiller principal d'éducation* or CPE); staff member responsible for organizing and overseeing the "activities of staff tasked with supervision duties," "individual student monitoring," and "advising students on their career/educational path choices" (education.gouv.fr)
(6) AESH (*Accompagnants d'élèves en situation de handicap*): Support staff for students with disabilities. On this subject, see "National AESH strike: an echo from the Mantois region," *Courant Alternatif* No. 314, and "AESH at the Maurice Thorez school in Trappes (78): Knowing how to keep a strike going," *Courant Alternatif* No. 358
(7) "Priority education map to remain frozen until 2027, despite 'absurd situations'," *Le Monde*, January 6, 2026
(8) "Where is the school system heading?", *Courant Alternatif* No. 325
(9) Press release from the middle school staff and families, June 11, 2026
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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