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In passing the Astier law in 1919, the government sought not only to control and develop local professional training for young workers in industry and business, but also to expand its network of public technical schools. To finance this initiative, the law of 13 July 1925 imposed a tax on apprenticeships supported by firms. Through a case study of the city of Lyon, this article examines how these tax funds were deployed. Increasingly a consensus was reached between the government, the city and local employers. This compromise gave strong support to private and public technical schools in metallurgy, as well as to a structured and developed network of professional courses. Commercial training was not developed in the same way.