Congress’s Fourth Joint Budget Subcommittee rejected on Wednesday the funding the Ministry of Education proposed for the Local Public Education Services (SLEP) in 2027. The proposal funded only six of the 11 services scheduled to take over municipal schools from January 1, 2027.
According to La Tercera, the decision would leave 27 municipalities unable to transfer their schools and without a clear date for doing so. Of those, only seven have said they want to keep their schools.
The SLEP are state agencies that replace municipalities in managing public primary and secondary schools under the reform known as demunicipalization. Each service covers several municipalities, which spend months in a transition process before handing over their schools.
The Ministry of Education, headed by Minister María Paz Arzola, planned for the Antofagasta, Valle Cachapoal, Hanga Roa, La Quebrada, Talagante and Del Reloncaví SLEP to begin operating in 2027. Los Cerezos, Los Copihues, Chacabuco, Los Viñedos and Del Litoral would be postponed. The ministry argues that these five are not administratively ready. According to the ministry, they have made insufficient progress and several public recruitment processes were invalidated after the Comptroller General’s Office identified regulatory shortcomings.
The figures vary by source. Radio Bío Bío reported that opposition lawmakers questioned the postponement of six SLEP, while Communist Deputy Daniela Serrano referred to five when explaining her vote.
According to Bío Bío, the subcommittee rejected all 71 budget chapters by three votes to one: the 70 for the SLEP and the one for the Directorate of Public Education. Two senators from the governing coalition were absent. Serrano warned that the reduction in teaching hours would mean "1,800 fewer teachers" and recalled that municipalities had already prepared to transfer their schools.
The Ministry of Education also introduced a bill to pause demunicipalization and allow municipalities due to hand over their schools on January 1 to keep them. An analysis by La Tercera indicates that just 11 of the 55 municipalities due to transfer schools in 2027 want to retain them.
Among mayors, the main concern is money. César Mena, mayor of Tiltil, a municipality in the Metropolitan Region that was due to join the Chacabuco SLEP alongside Colina and Lampa, said the transfer was "a concrete, necessary and urgent solution" to ease his municipality’s finances. According to Mena, Tiltil faces a critical budget situation, unlike its neighboring municipalities.
Patricio Rivera, mayor of Vichuquén (Los Cerezos SLEP), in the Maule Region, said funding education would require diverting resources from other areas. He identified the Children’s Symphony Orchestra, sports workshops and the municipal university entrance preparation program as being at risk, within a budget that must also address the environmental crisis at Lake Vichuquén.
Yusef Sabag, mayor of Cabrero (Los Copihues SLEP), said they had set aside "not a single peso" for education in 2027. Felipe Méndez, mayor of Molina, called on the government to explain how education will be funded next year.
In Congress, Deputy Juan Marcelo Valenzuela, caucus leader of the People’s Party, said the Del Litoral SLEP covers seven municipalities with very different budget capacities, and that this inequality directly affects students.
Sources at the Ministry of Finance told Bío Bío that the Budget Directorate will lead negotiations and that they are confident they can reverse the rejections through political commitments. So far, there are no concrete signs of changes to the figures.
