This article discusses principles of justice for basic education. François Dubet proposes the Rawlsian principle of justice, basic equality, which advocates that all students should master a basic framework of knowledge. Marcel Crahay proposes the equality of achievement. Both proposals avoid the principle of meritocracy, due to the contradiction between meritocracy and compulsory right. They are in the field of egalitarian distributive justice that values the results of policies due to the correlation between social and educational inequalities. The two authors claim fairness as a relevant part of educational equality; and, they relate tensions in school to principles of justice that express contradictory interests. For these reasons, they support permanent monitoring of policies and their consequences.
Basic Education; Equity; Educational Policies; Justice