Gestão e financiamento da educação básica: repercussões do Fundef em sete municípios paulistas

Abstract

This Thesis is about the fmancing of basic education in the state of São Paulo, Brazil, during the years that preceded and followed the implantation of the Fundef - The Fund for the Maintainance and Development of Elementary Education and Recognition of Teachers Work - in the 1990's. Created by a Constitutional Amendment, the Fundef introduces, in each state, an automatic mechanism of retention and redistribution of the tax money reserved by law to basic education's maintenance. The mechanism alters the path afilie most important parceI of this funding giving priority to its destination for elementary education (the compulsory school. for children aged from 7 to 14). The effect ofthis mechanism in the state of São Paulo, along with other measures implemented by the state's govemment, led to an intense municipalization process. This process has caused important changes in lhe profiles of lhe municipal school' s systems, which until then offered mainly preschool services - preschool and day care centers. To evaluate both the significance and the reach ofthese repercussions, the Thesis starts by a theoretical revision about the concepts of educational municipalization, studying the fiscal and educational decentralization in Brazil and in the state of São Paulo during the transition to democracy period that followed the military regime. The research examined the educational policies of a sample of seven municipalities presenting different geographical, educational, population and tax revenues profiles: Aguaí, Alfredo Marcondes, Cubatão, Descalvado, Diadema, Itatiba and São Paulo, the state's capital. The field work collected and examined accounting reports containing lhe educational expenses registers, educational statistics about enrollment, administrative educational data and information about the teacher' s employed by the municipalities, in the period between 1994 and 1998. Throughout the investigation, it was perceived an improvement in the educational budget registers. Some non-essential components that used to be included in the educational budgets were eliminated from the funds reserved by law for the public basic educational system. The local and the state govemments achieved a more efficient and equitable expenditure by student enrolled in the elementary schools. This assures enough funds for maintaining elementary schools for the total school age population in the state, at the present leveI of standards. However, the priority given to elementary school had a negative effect on the preschool educational services offered by some municipalities of the sample. The research also verified that many of the old practices of misuse and deviation of educational funds prevail in some municipalities. The amount spent per student in the maintenance of the same educational services still shows significant disparities between the municipalities