The contribution is divided into three parts. The first one briefly describes the division of the legislative and administrative functions of the State and Regions in the field of education, with some references to powers of the special autonomies and referring to the interpretations carried out by the Italian Constitutional Court. The second part illustrates the contents of the regional legislation currently in force, with examples on the regulatory interventions approved in some Regions. In the third part, some conclusions are drawn, highlighting, respectively: the scarce development of the territorial school policies, also in relation to the lacks in the implementation of the constitutional reform of 2001; the traditional and persistent relevance of those policies to the issues of the right to have access to education; the difficult interaction between regional and state policies, although presupposed to the proper functioning of the school network; the search by the Regions for alternative maneuvering spaces, to recover greater direction in the context of the exercise of administrative functions concerning other policies (including European ones).
Keywords: Italian School System, School Policies, Role of Regional Autonomy
Jel Code: I28