Representatives of the Association of Mayors of France (AMF) criticized on Wednesday June 24 the drop in state funding, which they believe is responsible for the slow pace of school renovation programs, while around 1,800 establishments are closed due to the heatwave.
“There are many schools which have been the subject of a lot of work (…) but when we reduce your financing capacities, and we tell you to reduce your expenses, you must not ask us at the same time to increase expenses for schools”, castigated the president of the AMF David Lisnard during a press conference.
More than 8,000 schools (out of 60,000) are disrupted, including around 1,800 closed, according to the government.
“Today we have 60,000 school establishments in France which depend (…) on local authorities. I do not yet know how to renovate a building of which I am not the owner as Minister of National Education,” explained Édouard Geffray on Tuesday. “The only solution is indeed to support communities, for which it is the primary responsibility,” he continued, citing “6,200 projects” supported “either by the green fund or by EduRénov”.
Drastic drop in the “green fund”
Since the creation of the “green fund” in 2023, the AMF has nevertheless continued to criticize the drop in allocated credits, from 2.5 billion euros in 2024 to 837.5 million in 2026. “An immense majority of mayors have done the work, we have obviously ensured that our school buildings are as adapted as possible, (…) but no one anticipated five or ten years ago that we could have periods of more than 40 degrees,” judged André Laignel, first deputy vice-president of the association. “We are resisting today as best we can but we need new means, because the situation is new,” he added.
David Lisnard also recalled that the investments necessary to support climate change in local authorities have been estimated “between 15 and 19 billion euros per year”. “We have reached almost 10 billion, but it is not by taking ever more from us and having removed fiscal responsibility from us that we will be able to finance schools, the removal of the coastline, the development of river embankments, the prevention of major risks,” he added.
