Participation of “Civil Society” in Educational Policies in São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

The article investigates the participation of civil society in the implementation of educational policies in the Sao Paulo (Brazil) state school-system based on the analysis of the administrative process of monitoring an agreement between the São Paulo State Department of Education (SEE-SP) and Associação Parceiros of Education (APE). Through documentary research complemented by interviews with SEE-SP managers, we analyzed the execution of the public-private partnership and the educational conceptions of the partners, observing the systematic non-compliance with deadlines and the absence of accountability reports by the private agent throughout the entire period analyzed. At the same time as they show an assimilation of private management assumptions by SEE-SP and a confluence of expectations between public and private actors, the analyses also challenge the idea that private management models are necessarily more efficient and effective than public models.