“I am a child of the “Two Schools”, as the great authors say”: when Emmanuel Macron quotes Michel Sardou

Back to the future. In 1984, France was torn apart over the Savary law providing for the elimination of private educational establishments. In 2024, a few days after her appointment as Minister of National Education, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra relaunches, at her expense, the school war by justifying the placement of her children in a private school by repeated absences of teachers in the audience. A controversy on the menu of the President of the Republic's press conference on Tuesday evening. Asked to say if the clumsiness of his minister had not relaunched a battle between public and private schools and if he maintained his confidence in her, Emmanuel Macron got away with a pirouette: “I am a child of the “Two schools”, as the great authors say.” A reference to one of Michel Sardou's titles.

A great fan of the singer (he knows his repertoire by heart, from the big hits to the most confidential titles that he sings or whistles at the Élysée), the head of state cites one of the latest positions in song by Michel Sardou. In 1984, in the midst of the school battle, the artist recorded the Les Deux Écoles offensive. Co-written with Pierre Delanoë, the title defends the freedom of choice between public and private school, each having its advantages and disadvantages. “I had the teacher who saw only tyrants with disastrous reigns in the kings of France. And the one who made old Anatole France a servant of Satan because he was without God. Very lively and with light music (as often in his musical editorials), Sardou castigates "this sacred Republic", "eldest daughter of the Church and the Convention" who "would be very happy if her masters left her free to do love and going to mass.” The success was immediate: more than 200,000 45s sold.

Michel Sardou will not be content to wage battle on the radio waves. He participated in the demonstration of June 24, 1984 in favor of free schools, where a million people marched. Faced with the outcry, the socialist bill was withdrawn. A snub for François Mitterrand. But the president will not hold it against the singer: he will award him the Legion of Honor and admit to being knowledgeable about the work of Michel Sardou. Next March, forty years later, Emmanuel Macron will elevate him to the dignity of grand officer of the Order of Merit. History always repeats itself.