Court prepares debate on the legality of the SEP to assign teacher positions

Iván Evair Saldaña

La Jornada Newspaper
Wednesday, December 24, 2025, p. 5

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) will discuss on January 6 a project by Minister Irving Espinosa Betanzo that proposes validating the powers of the Ministry of Public Education (SEP) to define the admission processes and assignment of teaching positions in basic and upper secondary education, which prioritize graduates of public normal schools.

If the proposal is approved, the constitutionality of articles 35, 39, section VII, 40, 44 and 64 of the General Law of the System for the Career of Teachers, modified by the reform of May 15, 2019, promoted by the then president Andrés Manuel López Obrador, would be endorsed.

The matter came to the Court through the unconstitutionality action 122/2019, promoted by the National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), in which it was argued that the norm violates the principles of equality, legality and legal security.

They denounce preferential treatment

The CNDH warned of a partial legislative omission in the horizontal promotion of positions, as the definition of rules and incentives was excessively delegated to the SEP without clear legal criteria, which – it maintained – violates the legal security of teaching staff.

On the other hand, he denounced unjustified preferential treatment for graduates of public normal schools, the National Pedagogical University (UPN) and the Multiple Care Centers (CAM) for entry into the teaching service, considering that it breaks equality in competitions, lacks proportionality and may affect the best interests of children by not exclusively privileging merit and ability.

However, Minister Espinosa’s project considers the CNDH’s arguments unfounded, concluding that it is constitutional for the law to establish selection processes that, although they must be public and equitable, incorporate prioritization mechanisms for certain sectors when they pursue legitimate goals, such as educational excellence and equity.

Likewise, the project validates the norm by maintaining that the legislator adequately exercised his power to design the teaching career system, within parameters of reasonableness and in compliance with the constitutional mandate to revalue the teaching profession and strengthen public education.