In the general population regardless of ethnicity or mother tongue when the issue of schools imparting a specific political agenda is raised the question “Are schools politicized?” has an automatic translation: "Do ikastolas, or euskaltegis, promote Basque nationalist politics in their students?" Most people hesitate to answer this openly in the street to a stranger, but most everybody has their definite opinion. It is a debate that rages on behind closed doors, underscoring the importance of separating publicly expressed opinions and private individual opinion.

The issue made headlines in the media finally in March 1996 when policemen required to take Basque language courses did so at an euskaltegi and exposed to the public exercises oral and written that were explicitly empathetic to victims of police brutality during Basque nationalist manifestations. Out of the woodwork came several other testimonies of individuals who had felt harassed because of their political ideas at Euskaltegis. The implicit accusations of political bias and harassment was felt by Ikastolas who made several public announcements in this regard. This media event presented only one side of political ideology being expressed through education. As many ardent Euskalduns would argue, when Spanish politics are part of the curriculum in other schools, it is not an issue worth media attention.
If accusations fly in the face of Spanish and Basque immersion schools, how about public schools that teach a mixed language curriculum? Schools teaching Mod. B, possessing a mixed language curriculum, more readily escape fast opinions regarding the presence of a political agenda or a political leaning among the school community. I have heard more than one person argue that this mixed language model, unlike the immersion models in Mod. A or Mod. D, is the most recent to surface, thus explaining the yet to be defined critique. This explanation however reveals the association that any immersion model has regardless of the overall changes in curriculum. In this sense, schools with Spanish or Basque dominant curriculum are more easily victims to preconceived notions.
Ikastolas are especially vulnerable to assumptions of politically driven education because of their particular history. Over the past 30 years, ikastolas have evolved with the consent and support of parents and teachers without changing its main goal, to create bilingual individuals capable of functioning in all aspects of their life in both Basque and Spanish. The collaboration and impetus of working among like-minded parties has the unintended consequence of making those with a difference of opinion feel alienated or even threatened. The common criticism of ikastolas is that they merge education with Basque nationalist politics and promote intolerance. The counter argument is that any school that does not include Basque language education as a priority in its curriculum is also promoting intolerance and the specific national politics of the Spanish nationalism.
I asked survey participants, without specifying one school system or the other, whether they felt schools imparted certain political ideologies unto their students. Though the single most frequent response was "yes, of course", when we look at the gradient of possible answers1-5, 3 being neutral, the majority (42%) of the survey participants stated that this was not the case. Though according to the survey the majority of the population does not consider schools to impart any particular political ideology, the results are so close that it is not clear that had another random selection of people been gathered the results would have been different. As is, it seems that the most influential factors are ethnicity and political ideology, which themselves are not unrelated.
The most noteworthy influence among respondents was the primary ethnic association with Spanish identity. Whether people identified themselves as Spanish or Spanish-Basque seemed to more often to correlate with a affirmation that schools were politicized. Breaking the expected pattern, however, that among those who were born in Spain the opinions on this matter were evenly split. This unexpected result leads me to consider that among those who identified themselves as Spanish perhaps it was the second generation Spanish that most acutely feels the pressure to conform. It is the generation of Spanish born in the Basque Country who have lived through the changes in language policy and the infra-valorization of Spanish language and culture.
When we consider the geo-ethnic imaginary boundaries, we find that even in these areas where culture, worldview and ethnicity seem to converge there is no striking majority of opinion only simple majority of votes. Still, in each geo-ethnic imaginary town, the majority of the opinion agreed with the ethnic tendency. Whereby the majority of those who live in Renteria, agreed that schools were politicized, and the majority of those who live in Errenteria or Orereta schools were not politicized. The statement that schools are not politicized reflects one of two positions. The most common implied statement is "no, ikastolas are not politicized". The second is a desire to state that Basque society as a whole is beyond politically biased education. An affirmation that discrimination on the basis of ethnicity or politics does not occur anymore. As every where else in Europe, education just is, it is neutral.

Xabier, a bus driver of Basque descent, reflects the reality of those who grew up in Rentería and are 30-40 years old. Though his background is ethnic Basque, to avoid the hated public schools he went to a seminary. At the seminary they receive only Spanish education and thus end up loosing grammatical fluency in Basque as his bilingual parents accommodate their children by conversing with them in Spanish, they loose exposure to the Basque language. In a period of trying to reassert his Basqueness he joins the militant youth in acts of street violence. Xabier, though ethnic Basque will not identify himself as euskaldun, but as Vasco and in keeping with this distinction he calls his native city Rentería though he recognizes Errenteria to be the more correct name.

In answering the issue of schools with political affiliation, Xabier explains,

yo creo que si, no es solamente el asunto político, bueno van mezclao, yo creo que es cuestión de sentimiento, un tío que se sienta español y no se sienta vasco no le interesa para nada el euskera ni la cultura euskalduna, porque no la siente… va al modelo A….mod. b y d va de todo. (from a life-story Interview of Xabier)

On one hand, Xabier’s first reaction is to say ‘Yes, schools are politicized and he gives an example of how those attending Spanish immersion schools reflect a population that feels Spanish and does not recognize or value Basque culture.’ His response reflects the native sensitivity to the question and responds accordingly, assuming his duty to expose the political affiliation of the Spanish immersion education as a way of defending from the common attack on Basque language schooling. His perspective shows a keen sensitivity to the silent bias often overlooked as “neutrality” of Spanish-only education. Reflecting his moderated views that stem from his mixed upbringing he wants to defend the efforts made thus far in Basque education so he closes his statement by stating the “neutrality” of the two other models.
Though critical only of the political affiliation of Spanish only schools, Xabier is quick to qualify that present day Spanish-only, or Model A, schooling cannot be compared to the reality of public schools during Franco, "las nacionales solamente durante Franco, pero las públicas ya no." (Xabier). When the distinction is made between las nacionales and las públicas it refers to changes in degrees and form of repression. Public schools during Franco were Spanish-only and the omission of Basque language and culture was overt and purposeful, following hand in hand with disciplinary actions in schools against use of Basque. Others interviewed have provided examples of disciplinary actions in school for use of Basque colors such as those on the Basque flag (red, green and white) adorning her hair as a child. In contrast, nowadays , Xabier argues the repression is covert and is found in the omission of Basque language, in lack of promotion of Basque cultural events, or in the biased telling of history.

If Xabier’s reflects the tendency to answer the question in the negative, as 48% did, it seems that even when stating that “schools” are not politicized the underlying answer is that they are. The negative response rather than addressing schools as a whole repeatedly reveals a knee-jerk reaction that assumes a biased question: “No, Ikastolas are not politicized, but public schools with Spanish dominant curriculums are.”

Just as the issue of schools imparting politics quickly turns conversations into a discussion of ikastolas. The issue of discrimination in education is mostly talked about in reference to public schools. The dramatic changes public education has undergone have primarily unsettled the notion of a Spanish public school. Unlike ikastolas, change in the public sector came as a sharp departure from the pre-1982 main objective: to unite all of Spanish territory with only one language of education and access. This change from outside > in has resulted in the disempowerment of teacher and some parents. Teachers, many of which had relocated from other Spanish provinces, suddenly saw their experience and preparation being undermined because of their lack of competence in a language that had never before been a requisite for teaching. There were also parents who expected their children to attend the same public school system they knew they feel their choice was taken from them, they are alienated from the curriculum and the education that their children are receiving.

Discussion of discrimination against Spanish speakers sometimes revolves around ikastolas but this is usually not the case because of the population that chooses to attend and work in ikastolas have already made a choice to accept Basque as the dominant language for education. In ikastolas discrimination against Spanish speakers is then a matter of subtle peer pressure and innuendo that affects individuals that are not native Basque speakers and feel excluded or disregarded on occasion or might refer to years when access to ikastolas actively discriminated against Spanish speakers in favor of native Basque speakers.

When survey participants were asked whether education discriminated against Spanish Speakers, the overwhelming majority (64%) stated that it did not. The 15% that agreed to the discrimination were found in all ethnic categories but mostly comprised of individuals with Spanish ethnicity.

In fact, the only ethnic category with a majority agreement to discrimination was Spanish, though a
significant 34% of all participants that identified themselves as Spanish did not believe there to be discrimination. Looking at the schooling experience of survey participants who identified themselves as Spanish, we find that most of them 70% went to public schools, 26% went to Catholic schools and only 4% went to ikastolas. Consistently, those individuals with a Spanish identity who did attend ikastolas did not believe there was any discrimination. This assessment may reflect a mechanism for wanting to fit in by immersion and by not reaffirming any difference or it may reflect the strong support and encouragement given to this small Spanish minority that is actively seeking to belong. The percentage of Spanish students who find there is discrimination against Spanish speakers in education makes up nearly half of all positive answers though they make up only
14% of all survey participants.

The only other socialvariables where a majority of participants coincided with discrimination were found in the section of ideal political future. Individuals who agreed that Spanish speakers were discriminated against in education selected the ideal state of government to be
anything but increased sovereignty to the region or left the question blank.

In interviews, discrimination against Spanish speakers was usually overlooked as a
non-issue, except when discussed among Euskaldunak concerned with the eventual normalization of Basque and policy design. Maite, who is employed by one of the municipal governments in Oarsoaldea, is sensitive to the discrimination that might result from ill-conceived policies. In her mind, when asked about bilingual education her first reaction is to criticize the petty politics involved in its design and implementation. According to Maite, the misguided desire to please everybody led to the creation of 3 models rather than 2. In her estimation, the Spanish dominant model delays normalization and creates a marginalized class that is ill suited for work in the
Basque Country. In wanting to “protect” or “respect” Spanish only speakers, not only are they missing out on an opportunity to develop bilingual skills, they are doomed find themselves unprepared for the increasingly common linguistic requirements in private, government and educational jobs.

todo eso siempre es como mucho jaleo político más que una política seria de política lingüística, yo creo, ahí sí que ha entrao eso de respetar a todo el mundo, que si hay alguien de escuelas solo en castellano, no sé, no tiene sentido mantener una escuela única y exclusivamente en castellano … para mí no tiene ningún sentido porque es que esos niños van a estar ya marginaos a sí mismos. O sea, en el momento que se van a estudiar a otro
instituto van a tener más problemas y en el momento que vayan a buscar un trabajo ni te cuento. Y además que es mantener como un hermetismo contra el euskera. no. (from interview with Maite)

In summary, the survey shows that discrimination is felt most clearly by second generation Spanish immigrants. Aggravating their feeling of transgression the majority of the people surveyed are blind to the discrimination. Those who do see the discrimination point out that discrimination is institutionalized in a misguided attempt to provide diversity rather than prepare all citizens to compete on a level playing field.

For many people the decision to close some schools and not others is the clearest example of schools being used as political pawns. It is an experience to which anybody in Oarsoaldea can relate. If a school has not been closed within a mile radius of where they live, there have been Ikastolas going private or public, or talks of collapsing schools into one. Public opinion over this question was primarily gathered through individual interviews. A review of the answers reveals three overriding themes: (1) the government has forced changes in schools out of a need to restructure the school funding, (2) the government did so as an endorsement of the ikastolas, or (3) the changes respond to a government strategy to divide, control and weaken the Ikastola movement after it was clear that public schools’ populations were dwindling.

–section unfinished– 

Broad public oppinion understood that the current
plethora of schools was unsustainable for the government.

The need for change However, even in this broad
support there are mixed reasons given besides

The review of the past three questions accentuates the perception that schools are another tool in the maneuvering of political factions and nationalistic ideologies. In an attempt to explore alternative explanations for school closings and for the assumption that schools are politicized or even more dramatically, that schools are enforcers of political agendas. In order to sidestep the political explanations and enter into the subject of quality of education, I asked survey and interview participants to evaluate Spanish language education.

Had the same question been presented entertain questions of quality of Basque language education there is greater likelihood of consensus, because it is prevailing opinion held by all sides that learning the Basque language is difficult for non-native speakers and creating an environment where children converse freely in the language requires great effort and commitment. The flip side of the issue of language education is the uncontested assumption that Spanish will be taught. Spanish language education is perhaps the subject matter of least concern because it is assumed that it can be learned outside of school because it is the dominant language of media, commerce and on the street.

Because it is not an subject that can only be provided through schooling, this question driving conversation away from politics and provides quick access to an individual’s assessment of what classroom and schools do to make Spanish acquisition better. The downside of this question is that not everybody might be concerned with correctness of Spanish usage but the upside is that it will reveal those that are thinking in terms of quality and scrutinizing schools for their academic rigor.
When asked if some schools taught better Spanish than others, 43% replied in the affirmative. Only 37% thought there was no real difference in quality of Spanish education received among different institution. When we look at the effect different social variables seemed to have over a positive or negative reply, we find that place of birth and

In 43% said yes, 37% said no.

cómo vez la enseñanza de castellano en Langaitz?
"mal, muy mal,
bueno pero qué cambios harías?
primero la programaría bien, y que hasta ahora pues ha sido una maría, porque y es por ejemplo lo que veo en las ikastolas, no, que el objetivo fundamental es aprender el euskera, pero es que luego al final hay muchos niños que el castellano, que indudablemente se necesita, se necesita, pues hay unas deficiencias, pero básicas, básicas, empezando por la ortografía, por la construcción de frases (excerpt from interview with Lourdes, teacher at LI)

Are schools politicized? My first day visit to Orereta Ikastola forecast the complexities of this question. It was the 13th of November 1996, the students of the High School had gone on strike and the Director of the High School found it ideally suited for us to meet and talk about the scheduled visits. I was calling to reconfirm the date of my initial meeting with the Director of the Ikastola when he let me know that on occasion that he would rather meet that day to make use of the quiet solitude of the day. We agreed the Director would pick me up by a police station down the street from my apartment.

As we rode up to the school I marvelled at the beautiful country side less than a mile away from down town Rentería. Rolling hills, quaint farm houses, sheep, it was the picture of peaceful living. Studying on a campus set among these manicured hills seemed ideallic. As we rode up to the school grounds down the entrance came two basque national police cars. Antton, the School Director spoke with them and later filled me in that the police were now heading to Zamalbide. This was one of the other main roads out of Rentería used as a main fare for buses driving kids to the Ikastola. Zamalbide also crossed in front of the Public High School and the students had decided to move their strike to Zamalbide in front of the Public High School.

As we walked around the school grounds, I was impressed by the sprawling structures. There were second floors, short flights of steps accomodating levels of rooms nestled into the hilltop where the Ikastola comfortably was set. The Ikastola was sitting in several acres of land that was granted to them by a farmer. As Antton put it a patriot, that donated land to the dream of a Basque public school. Upon closer analysis, I came face to face with walls laced with political messages. The messages were scribbled on with spray can paint. These were old messages that had been left there to address year after year of students. Down a corridor I saw papers on the floor they were short manifesto’s calling to the strike.

I asked what kind of repercussions students faced when they cut school or vandalized walls. His reply encapsulated the school’s philosophy on school and politics. “We are more relaxed here, we understand that students at this age are making sense of their environment, exploring causes, exercising their opinions and activism. Our policy is to give their freedom of expression space and try through our education to help them find their way.” The school saw itself as forming active citizens. There in the hallways and classrooms individuals were practicing and refining their opinions and calls to action.

I asked if the confronted with such understanding framework the students did not decide to go on strike more often, so much so to interfere with their progress. It seems a silent pact had been drawn where each year saw no more than 2 strikes or walk outs more or less. It was part of the balance the students had to find.

Antton made it clear that the school administration did not endorse the opinions. In fact, over time teachers let me know that they dissented with the students’ calls to action, thinking of such permissive attitudes as waisting time on naive or romantic opinions of some but which for many were just another opportunity to cut class. I sensed a desire for stricter control over the student body. But, in this our very first meeting, Antton, perhaps anticipating what conversations would unfold, made it clear that his authority to take decisive action in the Ikastola was conditioned by the Ikastolas’ decision making body.

The Ikastola was a community organization where parents, teachers, administrators and neighbors were members with a voice and vote on any major Ikastola decision. Teachers alerted me to an ocassional tug of war that went on beyond the control of teachers or the administration. In the end, though teachers may have dissented with parents and lost, teachers overwhelmingly were committed to the ideal of a “Basque public school” or now that it was private, a “Basque national school system” where the Basque language, traditions, values, history and future were being saved.
My tour of the empty corridors of Orereta Ikastola ended but my curiosity had been tweeked. As I walked out I looked at the view and asked what lay behind the school. Oiartzun, I was told. As I left my meeting with Antton, he walked me down to the building 200 yards away where the first graders were in full session. Antton introduced me to the first grade teacher with whom I´d be visiting. At the teacher’s invitation, I chose to accept the invitation and stay on for a while so I could chat with the teacher once the students broke for the day.

The children spilled out to the yard to play and wait for the bus. I was just about to mention how oblivious the kids were to all the activity in the High School when suddenly a young boy climbed up on a ledge and started yelling some political slogan that he must have overheard. I looked to the teacher in disbelief. The children were gathering around the young boy who was half laughing and raising his fist chanting enthusiastically.

“They pick it up from the streets. It is in the air and they just repeat it not knowing what they say” the teacher explained with a tone of heavy set resignation. Some of the kids gathering around repeated the slogan and lifted fists, though to be fair most did not. The teacher called the young boy to lower his voice and climb down. It was a matter of fact statement that these children could not be isolated from the politics of the day. “Some even have the need to deal with it. By acting out what they see, they are attempting to understand it better and deal with their emotions. We try to keep the peace and at the same time help them understand what they see and hear.” the teacher explained.

The teacher’s name was Amaia and she exuded a gentle and calm demeanor that was comforting. Though soft spoken in the year ahead she would prove to be a source of great insight into the dynamics of schools, families, and the town. An elegant private bus drove up and picked up the kids, Amaia introduced me to the bus driver and the mom’s aboard and asked to have them drop me off in the town.

Later that evening curiousity about the day’s events took me to pay a visit to some friends in Oiartzun. I was looking for more insights into the students strike and the intrusion of political activity in the schools. My questions were directed at the various members of the Iturbide family. The mom of this family was a founding teachers of one of the schools of the ikastolas of Oarsoaldea, her brother had been active supporting ETA in his youth. She was married and had three children, yet her youngest child upon completing his studies at Haurtzaro Ikastola went on to the Public High School rather than continue in Orereta Ikastola. Why?

The mother and son were conveniently in the kitchen. Nekane cooked while Kepa her son sat at the kitchen table watching tv at a distance and chatting with us. Nekane explained that she had reservations over the politically charged atmosphere but she let Kepa choose. Kepa chose the public high school parting way with over 70% of his classmates looking for less basque activist culture. This decision also had a certain elegance to them because it celebrated the fact that they had a choice. Basque language education had been adopted by the public school system and with their decision they were supporting this historic achievement.