Education is considered to be a crucial element of social development, but, in the global society, the legitimising principle of educational equality is altered by the neoliberal view that competition will improve the quality of any service made available in a society, which in turn will have a positive effect on the general welfare. The consequences are twofold: first, an increase in the use of private education by the middle class; and second, an increase in the severity of rules for students and faculty in schools. This article analyses the imbalance between the concept of citizenship and the legitimising principle of educational equality in the Spanish context.