French Prime Minister held a crisis meeting on Thursday and canceled ministers' schedules to respond to nationwide high school student protests, some involving violence. Students are dissatisfied with insufficient school resources, excessively long class hours, and other issues.

The demonstrations broke out last week in schools in the Paris area and continue to expand in scale. The police clashed with young protesters, arresting hundreds. Authorities reported dozens of injuries, including people hit by thrown objects, with some suspected to have been injured by police riot ammunition.

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This photo taken with a smartphone shows middle school students blocking the entrance of Voltaire Middle School in Paris on Thursday (October 1, 2026), demanding more resources. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga) AP Photo

This photo taken with a smartphone shows middle school students blocking the entrance of Voltaire Middle School in Paris on Thursday (October 1, 2026), demanding more resources. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga) AP Photo

This photo taken with a smartphone shows middle school students blocking the entrance of Voltaire Middle School in Paris on Thursday (October 1, 2026), demanding more resources. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga) AP Photo

Students burned trash in Lille, France, on Thursday (October 1, 2026), to protest the lack of school resources. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias) AP Photo

A student held a sign reading 'We want a high school diploma, not an anti-crime unit' during a demonstration in Lille, France, on Thursday (October 1, 2026), demanding more resources from the school. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias) AP Photo

Thursday (October 1, 2026), Lille, France, students protested demanding more resources for schools. A student held a sign reading 'We want the high school diploma (BAC), not the anti-crime unit (BAC)'. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias) AP Photo

This protest quickly became a hot topic in the campaign to replace President Macron, who is constitutionally prohibited from seeking a third term next May. The protests have also intensified the pressure on the French government facing increasingly severe financial problems, overshadowing the spending cuts budget for 2027 announced by the government on Thursday.

At a Paris high school where students were blocking the entrance, 18-year-old Salama Gargouri said that the protesters wanted to target 'overly heavy schedules, the system, teachers, those who do not listen to us, and the university application process.'

This photo taken with a smartphone shows middle school students blocking the entrance of Voltaire Middle School in Paris on Thursday (October 1, 2026), demanding more resources. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga) AP Photo

French middle school students usually start classes at eight in the morning and stay at school until the evening.

Another Parisian middle school student, Jenna Tahari, said, 'The elders say, "Children, go to school from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day." But they don't know what effect this has on the mind.'

This photo taken with a smartphone shows middle school students blocking the entrance of Voltaire Middle School in Paris on Thursday (October 1, 2026), demanding more resources. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga) AP Photo

Arson, throwing objects, and other acts of violence on the fringes of some demonstrations have led to an increase in the number of injuries and mutual accusations. The Minister of the Interior has ordered the police to disperse blockades preventing students from attending classes and to stop acts of violence and vandalism.

Juliette Estivill, a high school Spanish teacher, said that the crackdown on the protests prompted her to join the students.

This photo taken with a smartphone shows middle school students blocking the entrance of Voltaire Middle School in Paris on Thursday (October 1, 2026), demanding more resources. (AP Photo/Nicolas Garriga) AP Photo

She said, "I came here just to provide protection, to form a barrier between the police and the students. Today did go smoothly, but I really believe that the teachers who came to the blockade site are only here to protect our young people."

Education Minister Edward Jeffrey stated that Thursday's violent incident included a school being set on fire and staff being doused with gasoline. He said instructions had been issued that schools should conduct remote classes when students are in danger due to blockages or damage.

Students burned trash in Lille, France on Thursday (October 1, 2026) to protest the lack of school resources. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)

Jeffrey posted on social media platform X: 'Violence will not deprive students of their basic right to education.'

Far-left presidential candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon condemned the government's response as repression. His critics accused Mélenchon's party of inciting violence and using the unrest to gain support ahead of the presidential election.

A student held a sign reading 'We want a high school diploma, not an anti-crime unit' during a demonstration in Lille, France, on Thursday (October 1, 2026), demanding more resources from the school. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias) AP Photo

The office of Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu stated that he has asked ministers to cancel all planned official activities in the coming days so that authorities and the police can focus on handling the demonstrations.

(AP)

Thursday (October 1, 2026), Lille, France, students protested demanding more resources for schools. A student held a sign reading 'We want the high school diploma (BAC), not the anti-crime unit (BAC)'. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias) AP Photo

The Trump administration on Thursday released proposed regulations stating that almost all schoolchildren in at least thirty states could apply for new federal scholarships starting next year to pay for private schools, homeschooling, and other educational expenses.

The first national school choice scholarship program, the 'Federal Scholarship Tax Credit,' will be launched on January 1, providing an incentive funded by taxpayers for families in participating states to choose private or home education. Taxpayers who donate to organizations that provide scholarships will receive a federal tax credit, and this benefit is expected to further promote the conservative school choice movement.

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is seated on Friday, September 18, 2026, in Washington, ahead of the SBA Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition. (AP Photo/Alison Roberts) AP Photo

According to the department, about 96% of children in these states should be eligible. Children attending public schools can use the scholarships for additional learning expenses.

School choice scholarships have been implemented for decades in conservative-led states and throughout the South, providing taxpayer-funded grants to individual students, ranging from a few thousand dollars to more than $30,000 per year. An Associated Press analysis shows that in places like Florida and Arizona, where scholarships are offered to all students regardless of income, most students using this funding were already in private or home schooling, or come from affluent communities.

This federal program is different from most state programs in that it does not require students to leave public schools to receive scholarships. Public school students can use the funds for tutoring or special education therapy, although the Republican administration has not yet provided specific guidelines for eligible expenses.

Regulators stated that they have set the program to make it easier for low-income students to apply, suggesting that students be allowed to use proof of participation in government assistance programs instead of providing income documentation. Officials said that foster children do not need to provide any income documentation when applying.

Experiences with school choice scholarships in other states show that the obstacles to using these programs are not limited to paperwork. Many families often do not know about the existence of scholarship programs. Federal officials have not explained how they will inform taxpayers and students about the scholarships.

Starting from January 1, taxpayers will have the opportunity to contribute to scholarship programs in participating states, even if they do not live there. Individuals can donate up to $1,700 and receive an equivalent federal tax credit. Federal officials suggest that couples filing jointly can contribute up to double that amount.

Each state's scholarship agency will decide how much money to grant to each applying child based on available funds and student needs. Children from elementary to high school are eligible if their family income reaches three times the median income of the area.

Officials from the Ministry of Finance stated that scholarship recipients can use the funds to pay for tuition at religious or private schools, homeschooling expenses, tutoring and special education therapy, books, computers, and other expenses related to enrollment or attendance.

Federal officials stated that states cannot use laws or regulations to restrict the use of scholarships or the types of institutions that can award them.

But states can choose whether to participate in the program. More than thirty states, mainly in the South and those led by conservatives, have chosen to participate. Colorado, New York, and New Hampshire have also signed on to join. The governors of Arizona, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Oregon have said that their states will not join, with some people believing that these programs divert resources from public schools.

More than twenty states, including California, New Mexico, and Massachusetts, have not yet indicated how they will proceed.

Governors deciding whether to participate face many competing goals and interests. This is an opportunity to bring a large amount of new educational funding to students who need extra support, such as tutoring or additional speech therapy not provided by public schools. At the same time, large scholarship programs in states like Florida and Arizona exacerbate the growing enrollment crisis in public schools.

Nevertheless, this federal program is expected to bring taxpayer funds for private school tuition to states such as Colorado, Nebraska, New York, and North Dakota, which have not yet adopted vouchers or education savings accounts.

The IRS and the Department of Treasury expect that, after donations from taxpayers increase, the program will allocate nearly $26 billion annually within just a few years, for up to 2.2 million scholarships.

This federal tax credit scholarship program was signed into law last year by U.S. President Trump as part of his signature tax-cutting and spending-reducing legislation. The public has sixty days to comment on the Treasury Department's proposed regulations.

(Associated Press)