International audience This chapter constitutes the French case study within a book dedicated to the relations between societal values in a given country and its educational system. It shows how, in the French context, values such as secularism, republicanism, and jacobinism (high level of centralization), have influenced the evolution of the educational system. It reviews the impact of this global background on the issue of equal access to education, and on equity. But it questions the limits of this approach for future improvements of the overall performances of the system, in particular for the treatment of at-risk students and for the social promotion of children of low socio-economic background. It also examines the difficulties of introducing in France effective decentralization and autonomy of local actors in the management of education. It finally shows the dangers of the excessive centralization for achieving a rational management of resources.